Slowly By Slowly-Negrete Adoption

We got an email yesterday to schedule our initial intake interview. I immediately emailed back and asked if we could do it this afternoon and she said yes!! We met for about half an hour and she asked generic questions...why do you want to adopt? Why Uganda? How do your families feel about the adoption? She asked about our relationship, how we met, our dating period and engagement and general marriage. It was pretty easy and painless. I was nervous going into it but it was way easier than I had expected. Tomorrow we'll schedule our individual interviews that can be up to 2 hours long and then she'll come out to our house and check out the physical environment. After that, she'll write our home study!! This is really happening and now I'll be freaking out about the individual interview and if my knives are high enough, the fire extinguisher is in the right place and all the harmful chemicals are properly contained!

A year ago this weekend  we took a few days and went to a quaint bed and breakfast ( The Keating House ) in San Diego. It was a sweet weekend to be together, explore the city, celebrate my birthday and slow down. Hours were spent walking on the boardwalk, at a Padres game, walking thorough Balboa Park. We spent a lot of our weekend intentionally talking about our future. We spend time praying and reading the Word and talking some more. At the end of the weekend we felt God leading us to begin two major life changing ventures...Chris would apply for Nurse Practitioner programs and we would start an adoption before trying for biological kids. We both felt God pushing us to trust Him in two major changes and trust His plan for our family. I immediately started pursuing adoption agencies and talking with dozens of families who had adopted. I researched Ugandan laws, the current feelings toward international adoption and attachment theories. We switched churches and found on...

We turned in all our paperwork for our home study on our anniversary last Monday!! We are now waiting to hear from our social worker for our interviews!! I'll update when we know more. When we are finished with our interviews, we will have our last payment to our home study agency. We still have 64 more puzzle pieces left...a fully "donated" puzzle= a fully funded home study. We would love to have names fill each piece before that last big check is sent off. I'm praying we can finish our interviews before school starts back up. If you would like to "donate" a puzzle piece, click on the donate button on the left, each piece is $10 and you can donate as many as you would like. In the comments section at checkout you can let us know what names you would like on the back. In other news............ Tuesday we had a call from our placing agency. We talked for about 45 minutes about what the reform may look like and what it means for our adoption. Basically, we...

Happy Anniversary to my best friend! I wouldn't want to do this crazy life or an adoption with anyone else!! Standing beneath that tree 2 years ago we promised to walk hand in hand together. Some days that is easier than others. Some days we're knocked to our knees before God...some days we rest together and other days we dream and run together! Marriage is such a unique blessing. This has been a year of taking risks...I hate risk...Chris love risk. In the past year, Chris applied for NP school meaning 2 years of intense school, we started an adoption that we cannot afford, I chose to stand firm on convictions knowing it may cost me my job, we moved to a bigger/more expensive house without having a new job so we can have room for baby. Some days I freak out not knowing how everything will work out and Chris sweetly reminds me "God brought us this far, I'm confident He has a way to provide"  It's so comforting to have a husband who helps me to trust God i...

Nothing happens quickly in the adoption world, it's full of waiting and waiting. We were told we would hear after the 16th from our agency regarding their trip. But WE WERE EMAILED TODAY!! That was 4 days early. I made Chris read it out loud to me and I guarded my heart to hear the impact. I'm not ready to give up yet, I don't feel like God is closing this door....he read these words: "the trip was a positive one in many aspects as his meetings brought about much information" Information...that's not what I want to hear. My heart sank, positive in what way? Positive in that we got a lot of information, cleared things up, door are closing but at least we did things the right way? Please God NO!  Then he read: " One of the main ideas he experienced was seeing many officials and organizations desire REFORM , not CLOSURE of the guardianship/adoption process. "Our Agency" also feels that reform is necessary in order to move forward. From these...

Our agency will be returning late tonight to the US. This is really exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. On one hand, the trip is over, it's complete, they've talked with people and discovered things. On the other hand, it's scary...what did they learn? What is the outcome? Can we still adopt from Uganda? How will this affect us? And so we wait more. Adoption is all about waiting and we're doing our best to wait well. We won't hear anything until after the week of the 16th. We'll move in that time so we have plenty to keep us busy. And we will start the interview portions of the home study in the next few weeks. Even though the adoption has uncertainty, we still feel God's had pushing us forward with the home study/adoption. Today.... Please pray for safe travels as our agency returns. Pray for easy flights, rest and a sense of answers and clarity. Pray for our agency as they meet over the next few weeks to discuss what they found on the...

Today and part of tomorrow, our agency will be attending a conference in South Africa sponsored by the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). This conference is specifically focusing on the leadership within the Church in Africa and orphan care among a large group of pastors and ministry leaders from all different communities in Africa. This is a huge opportunity to talk with many people from all over Africa as well as other adoption agencies to discuss and explore how to care for orphans well. Today... Please pray for safety in traveling to the conference with all luggage arriving and easy travel. Pray for connections to be made and deepen with ministry leaders throughout Africa who have a mission to care for orphans Pray the Holy Spirit guides the attendees in how God wants orphans to be cared for well.