When Love Takes You In

I know you've heard the stories

But they all sound too good to be true

You've heard about a place called home

But there doesn't seem to be one for you

So one more night you cry yourself to sleep

And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in

And somewhere while you're sleeping

Someone else is dreaming too

Counting down the days until

They hold you close and say I love you

And like the rain that falls into the sea

In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go

There is nothing that could ever cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in it takes you in for good

When love takes you in

~ Steven Curtis Chapman

Home Visit & Interviews

Hi all...today was such a huge blessing. The home visit today with Nora, went really great! We were stressed and tense all week, not knowing what to expect but Nora made us feel relaxed and comfortable with the meeting so we ended up enjoying it very much. It was a picure perfect Northwestern Day. 73ish and not a cloud in the sky. The house looked great and the yard was so green and beautiful.

What's next - Nora will prepare her home study write-up and recommendation then she will submitt it to Great Wall for approval. Once Great Wall approves it and we have our Home Study in hand, we can file for our i800. David's passport was ordered on Thursday and I am sending mine in by Wednesday of next week.

The experience we had today was just more confirmation that we on the right track. Its so easy to get bogged down in the overwhelming details of this process but the Lord is so true to His word when He promises to give peace that surpasses all understanding if we trust Him and keep Him as our focus. He is so faithful... Its been a long day and its it 8 o'clock and we are hittin' the sack.

Thank you all for your prayers!

The home study is underway!

Hi all!
I can't believe it's been over a month since we last updated our blog! Needless to say our lives have gotten more and more busy especially now that spring is in full swing!

We had out first initial meeting with Nora, our Social Worker on May 11th. The couple of weeks leading up to that first visit consisted of gathering up documentation, employment verifications, financial verifications,notaries, biographies for each of us and etc. So Nora, bless her heart, now has our "pile" and is wading through it to make sure all is in order. So far so good. We have our first "home visit" this Saturday at 2pm. We are nervous and will be glad to have it behind us. As I am readying myself for battle, Nora has assured me this should be a relaxed and enjoyable visit with nothing to to worry about...SO..."trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding" is resonating loud and clear!

Once our home study is in we can begin the process of applying for grants. The next step, I believe will be to file our i800. Which is our governmental approval that is required to authorize us to adopt a Hague Convention adoptee and claim them as as US citizen and an immediate relative.( that's it in the nutshell). Until that, we are on to requesting our passports. David will have his application in by the end of the week and I have to send my passport in for renewal.

In the midst of all this we have made some time to be outside in the beautiful sunshine! David built the mini greenhouse for melons and cucumbers and I have gotten most of the raised beds planted...Yay! Check it out on salvagegarden@blogspot.com.

We are working on the inside of the house too. We patched some damaged plaster and primed and painted the stairwell and hallway upstairs and are readying to paint the upstairs bathroom. Then on to sanding the wood floors upstairs so they can be re-sealed! And, yes our jobs are going well...we are both very blessed!

Will write again soon! Love and hugs to all!