Count Down to July 31st!

We had our first home study interview...it went well!  Through the course of the 1.5 - 2 hour conversation in the agency's office we became progressively more comfortable, as evidenced by the evolution of my husband's jokes :)  It was wonderful to share how we met and how our lives have taken us from a 30 second conversation about adoption while dating ("hey...if for some reason we couldn't have kids, would you ever adopt?") to sitting in that very office describing the type of open adoption dynamic we hope for and dreaming about where are future child will come from.  Our fertility history came up as part of our story, but was not dwelt on as a red flag, and we were not even asked if we hope for biological children someday.  I was intrigued by the questions she was asking in this get to know you meeting.  I thought these were two very telling questions: 1) Were there any issues you had to work through while dating, and 2) What was your first year of marriage like?  She also asked about any fears we had about adoption and offered some perspective in response, which was very appreciated since it confirmed for us  that they are there to help us prepare for the role of adoptive parents.

Our counselor did ask us about the application we filled out with the other agency, while prefacing it in the same sentence with "I'm not looking for all the details."  She was content with our answer that we were not denied, rather, we withdrew since it became evident that our relationship with the other agency wasn't a good fit.  Though we are still upset with how we were treated by the other agency, we have come to appreciate that they deliberately left the door open for us to go elsewhere by making it clear that our home study with them had not begun and by putting us on hold instead of turning us away, allowing us to withdraw.

Our meeting ended with laughs and the scheduling of our next 3 sessions, the last of which is planned for July 31st.  What does this mean?  Well, if all goes well by August 1st we will be certified and officially a waiting family, "ready" and available to be parents any day!  Please pray that all continues to go well and that on August 1st we are celebrating!