Education Complete

Just a super quick update to say Thank You for the prayers! 

Our education went really well (again ha ha).  Our call was reduced from two hours to just over one hour.  We satisfied, yet another, Social Worker with our understanding of adoption lingo, Down Syndrome, resources and expectations. 

This last lady explained the reasoning for the "test" better than anyone else.  She explained that the in-person class was so many hours long and our was a drastic reduction in physical hours with an instructor.  They wanted to make sure we got all the same information.  They gave us all the same papers and we read them all. The Social Worker also explained that the families that lived in the rural areas had harder times adjusting post-adoption.

I understand WHY the need to be thorough (and I don't expect anything less than through)...I guess I just don't know why it surprised everyone we have talked to with how much research we have done on our own.  I feel like people think we picked Down Syndrome out of a hat.  I mean, really, don't all families research like crazy when preparing for an adoption; let alone a special needs one?!?!   Sheesh, I read MANY books before having my biological children...EVEN number FIVE! (OK, some of the books/articles I just laughed at because they are a bit over the top...but all-in-all most books have SOMETHING that make you go, "Ah ha!").  Why would adoption be any different?

Bah, we are trying to take everything in stride.  Tomorrow I will be getting some pictures notarized.  It took so long for people to call us back to get appointments here.  Not at all what I was expecting!  Hopefully we will be blessed with a wonderful person tomorrow and establish a rapport with him or her so that the next time we need to use them (praying that this phase comes reeeeeaaaalllly soon), we will be able to get in quicker.  Please pray for this meeting tomorrow :)

Again, thank you for the prayers. Only through God, can we walk this journey.  Our pastor said something this last Sunday in regards to how if we, as people, are comfortable in our lives and able to do our life on our own, then chances are we aren't trusting in God to the fullest and living in the Spirit.  This journey to adopt is UNCOMFORTABLE, SCARY, EXPENSIVE, HARD, FRUSTRATING and TESTS us beyond our imagination!  Yet, we are at peace that this is God's Will for us.  He is opening doors and allowing wonderful people to journey with us.  We cannot do this without God. 

With this trust in God, comes Satan and his persistent attacks.  Please continue to pray for our family.  We CANNOT do this without prayer!!!  NOT. AT. ALL.

Now that this phase is complete, we will be telling our story a bit more to other people (such as hubby's boss and coworkers and church families).  We aren't doing this (international adoption) to save anyone or to make a statement.  This is the way we were LED (by God, in case you were wondering ha ha) to grow our family.  Our prayer is that people understand this.  We do, however, feel compelled to educate others about what happens to children in certain countries that are born with special needs and we pray for God's Guidance while we dialogue with others.  We want to give an accurate and honest account of conditions and experiences that these HUMAN BEINGS encounter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  For those that have left comments, thank you.  If you don't agree with our adoption, find another blog that interests you.  Keep the nasty comments to yourself.  We won't post them (but you already knew that).