So the last few days have been a whirlwind. We are currently home study approved. It
feels so good. This is our second home study, but this one felt different. We went in a little wiser, therefore a little more cautious, but we couldn’t be more happy with our social worker, our agency, and where we are. Being the people that we are, we didn’t waste any time when our home study was sent via email to begin the next step of our process.

And we have started the next step, which is starting to build our future family. This involves a lot of privacy and confidentiality. Why you may ask? Well because we are currently in the process of looking at profiles of children, finding out information and histories, and researching. We love sharing our journey to help educate others and to connect with people and are so excited to continue to do so; however, a part of the process that we won’t be “as open” about is anything that involves really disclosing our future children’s “story”. Our future children’s story is just that—their story, and we want to honor that through the entirety of this process.

So what will I tell you? Hmm…well we are farther than we’ve ever been in the process and we know we are exactly where we should be right now. We are humbled, and we are so grateful for our journey. I know many of you wish that we didn’t have to go through the process of changing agencies. Or you feel really bad about how long we’ve waited. Or you just know that we’d be great parents. And we really do appreciate that, but please know we don’t feel bad at all. I don’t wish that anything had been different. This was our process, and by golly, we needed it to get to where we are right now. That isn’t a “rose-colored glasses” statement, but the honest truth. And I’ve only learned that wisdom on patience through this process. As for the wait, I will tell you that this is not considered long in the adoption world. And waiting isn’t bad—it offers time for self-reflection, education, and self-care.

By this point I expect that you have questions…us too! Lots of them. The process is new for us as well.

If you know us, you know we love to answer any questions anyone has. Bearing in mind if it’s about where we are right now in the process fire away. If it’s about the specifics of the specific children we are inquiring on, you are still more than welcome to ask us in person (please not social media); however, please know that if we decline to answer it’s not because you offended us, or that you asked the wrong thing, or did anything wrong. We are just working on protecting our future children’s stories, so that it is their choice to share in the future if they want to. I know it seems pretty simplex; it does to us too. But this is the beautiful, simplex, humbling journey called adoption.

~Chelsea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Testing produces steadfastness.

Ever wonder what would happen if you won the lottery? When that number gets crazy high and you go out and buy ‘just that one ticket’- just in case. It’s fun to have those conversations with friends and family about what you would do with that kind of cash.

Would that make your life perfect? Most would have the maturity and life experience to know deep down that wouldn’t equate to a perfect life. So what would?

What would make your life just perfect?

For centuries people have been dreaming up answers to that very question. Many pursue that very life…or spend a lot of time bemoaning the fact they missed it. There are people mature enough to know that the very testing of our ‘perfect life’ produces steadfastness.

This word steadfastness can mean very different things to different people. Some would call it “endurance.” Others would use “perseverance.” Still others call it “patience.” I would call it “everything I could ever want in life.”

I would describe this word as the idea of remaining under; staying put; not wriggling and writhing away from the many points in life that cause pressure.

Our lives are overrun with things that exert pressure. I love my wife, don’t get me wrong, but our marriage can cause stress…just as singleness for many can. I love my job, but managing all of that responsibility is stressful. There can be tensions among family. What about aging? And those are just some of the routine forms of pressure in our lives. There are many things that are unpredictable. Health problems, children in trouble, no children, car trouble, and those seemingly random weeks where everything just seems to go wrong.

The harder the pressure, the more we wish for any way to ‘just be done.’ Bail, quit, flee. But is this what we really want? How does that pressure shape us as people? How do we grow? Good things in our lives often grow through our ability to “remain under” the pressure.

I already know that I have everything that matters in life. My life is “perfect.” It’s complete. I have a good life, great wife, good job, and wonderful people who build me up each day. I don’t want for much. This doesn’t mean I don’t have “pressure”, that my life doesn’t get hard, that there aren’t challenges. There are plenty of those. But my faith gives me the ability to be steady under pressure, confident in the idea of what will happen will happen for a reason.

The best decisions I have made in life are the ones where I stayed bolted in place when I was being pressed down by trials and tribulations and I refused to walk away. You see these moments shape my character to the core. Because when I endure; when I persevere; when I grind out with patience what is required of me to handle those moments…I plan to come out with the very best thing in the world…steadfastness.

And trust me when I say, my adoption will be “perfect.” Just how it’s supposed to be. And I will grow, learn, move, change, mature and my children, my life, and myself will be better off for it.

~Eli