Slowly By Slowly-Negrete Adoption

We had a 2 1/2 hour call last week, and an hour call this week with our social worker...Can I just tell you I LOVE our social worker! She is easy to talk to, understands our concerns and is willing to walk the distance with us. She is preparing us for each step of the journey but also helping to prepare our hearts to be parents to our child. I'm so grateful for her expertise, she makes me feel protected in a journey that often feels very uncertain. We are inexperienced at this whole parenting and adoption thing but we've never felt demeaned or like our infinite questions are silly. We will be starting our home study soon...hopefully this week or next. I've realized I've thrown that term around and it confuses many people. A home study is basically an assessment of us as individuals, us as a couple and our physical home. It is a thorough study to make sure we are ready and capable to adopt. It's a long and often time grueling process but I appreciate that they look

I think this post is mostly for us but you may be blessed by it as well. There are two things w e quickly became convinced of...1. God LOVES Adoption and Satan HATES Adoption. We constantly are reminded that the struggles we encounter are evidence of a spiritual war we are in the middle of. It's vital I remin d myself that the battle is big but God is bigger and He loves and celebrates adoption! What a Mighty God We Serve!! This post is to help me remember God's love and work in our adoption so I can battle the doubt and frustration of Satan's very real involvement in the struggle.  We've seen God walking this journey with us hand in hand. Some days are discouraging but through His grace, God grants us little bits of hope which encourage us deeply 1. Within 2 days of finding out I was loosing my job, an exciting job prospect popped up. I'm in the middle of interviewing and praying and seeing how God provides. 2. Our puzzle fundraiser went up last week and

There's no doubt adoption is expensive. We are diligently saving away and living on a tight budget. It's extremely humbling to ask for help but we can't do this alone. We've prayed about how to fundraise well and are committed to being honest and trustworthy with your support. If you'd like more information on the breakdown of costs, we have included estimations given by our agency under the " Our Ugandan Adoption " at the top of the page We have purchased a 252 piece puzzle to make and eventually hang in our child's room. On one side is the Ugandan flag. We hope our child is proud of being Ugandan, we want to keep the culture and spirit of Uganda alive in our child and in our family! On the other side, we will be writing the names of people who have financially partnered with us. Each puzzle piece is $10 and you can purchase as many as you like. Then tell us what name you would like on the back. It could be your name, someone you want to honor,

This post has been the hardest to write. I've struggled to figure out how to put it into words but we want to remember each step of this process. Adoption isn't easy and the past few weeks have been hard. We want to be honest about the details as hard and frustrating as it may be. We strongly believe two things. First, Satan HATES adoption. He is the thief who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Second, God LOVES adoption and He has come that we might have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). We know God deeply loves the orphan, he sets the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6), he cares for the marginalized and the least of these (Matt 25) We knew before we started our adoption that it often brings a spiritual battle. With that being said, we didn't fully realize what that would look like for us and how many ways we would be attacked. The day after we submitted our application, Chris' car needed an almost $500 repair. Chris met with an orthopedic