3rd & Final Home Study

Well I figured it was about time I (Brandon) jump in and add a little something to the blog. Before I tell you about our last Home Study experience let me share a little of my heart and perspective on this whole deal. We are now a few months in and it is starting to feel a little more real. As Meghan probably already said this is something we have wanted to do and talked about for a while. God is using this process to bring us closer to him and Meghan and I closer to each other. One of the biggest things for me is actually living by faith and not by sight. I have had a fairly easy life. I have amazing parents that have always provided for me in every way and given me more than I needed in any situation. I have had little things come into my life that stretched me (Broken Neck, parents moving away, etc.) but nothing that has really caused me to fully walk by faith and not by sight. The decision to adopt has always been one that sounded exciting but I never really thought through the whole process until a few months ago. I am a very analytical thinker and like to see where I am going well before I start in a direction, or as my former Professor Tim Reed would say "Begin with the end in mind." This is definitely not the proper context that he was referring to, but for the most part this is how I have lived my life. Adoption is a whole different ball game. When you begin there are many things you do not know and the big one is when it will the whole process end. Jumping into the adoption process has definitely been a step of faith for Meghan and I. We began not knowing much of anything, including where all of the money would come from, but we truly felt God calling us to take this step. We still have a lot of unanswered questions, including how long this process will take, but we are excited and praying daily for the child or hopefully children we will receive. We trust that God is in control and will bless us in His timing. One thing I have learned so far is that God isn't always going to make things happen in your life that will cause you to start trusting Him and walk by faith. More often than not God is waiting for us to step out in faith and He will step up and show His power and faithfulness. Far too after we wait around for some sign from God or for Him to push us into something. I truly believe we need to step up and start looking for ways to be a part of God's greater story happening all around us. God wants us to join in and be a part of something bigger than us. Right now for us that is adoption. To be a part of giving new life to a child in need of a family. We are stoked to be a part of what God is doing.

Last, Tuesday night we went back out to Gilbert for our 3rd and final home study visit. We had a little anticipation for this one because we were told that we would be interviewed individually. We weren't sure what questions they would ask but were curious why it would need to be done separately. Turns out it was no big deal at all, and we still aren't sure why they need to do the interviews separately. Trina, our social worker, basically asked us a few questions about our childhood and family life. Meghan went first and took probably around 20-30 minutes. Since we were at the library I scanned the Autobiographies section and ended reading Albert Pujols' book "More than a Game." Turns out he is sold out to his faith and regularly shares his faith with his teammates and even shares the Gospel to runners on first base while he is playing. Gave me some good material for my lesson the next morning at Northwest Christian School's weekly chapel. Anyways, Meg came out and it was my turn for interrogation. The funny thing for me is that Trina looks exactly like one of our youth workers at Church, Alana Heater. The only thing that reminds me I'm not talking to Alana is that Trina has a little bit of an accent I'm guessing from Minnesota. Like I said, Meghan took about 20 minutes or so but I was done in less than five. I'm not much of a talker unless you have very specific questions or I have my Bible open and given an opportunity to teach. When asked how my childhood was my answer was pretty simple. Good. I have great parents that were very involved in my life and took great care of me. Didn't have much else to say. Pretty sure Meghan answered the same way, just took a little longer. It was a pretty quick visit, probably spent twice as much time driving there and back than we did talking with her. The good thing for us was that we were able to turn in the last of the paperwork for the home study process. Now all that needs to be done is for Trina to put it all together and submit it to the state so we can get certified. She said we should have our certification no later than January. This means we are simply one step closer. Still not sure how many more steps there will be but we are moving forward and trusting God for his provision and timing all along the way.