Progress on the Adoption Front

Mabuhay (welcome/hello)!

As the summer comes to a close, we're excited to see quite a bit of progress made on the adoption front!

In early August, we officially completed our Home Study for Missouri. In a nutshell, through our home study, we have indicated to the State of Missouri that we comply by all necessary regulations to have a child in our home. Through this process, we had quite a bit of evaluation done – among a few:

• Our home – ensuring it was safe and equipped to handle our future kiddos
• Our finances – ensuring we can support our future kiddos
• Our health – ensuring we're both of good health
• Our marriage – ensuring we can endure the challenge that we'll face
• Our parenting – ensuring we are willing and able to handle the challenges of parenting

Shortly after our home study was approved, we submitted our application to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Essentially, we're applying for the right to bring children into the country with the intent to adopt them. USCIS is currently reviewing our application.We hope to have approval from them within the next 6-8 weeks.

After that, we can submit our application to the Philippines.In the meantime, we are finalizing all of our paperwork to submit to the Philippines. This is called our "Dossier". Included in our Dossier are items like proof of identity, income, residency, etc. Believe it or not, we even had individual and couple psychological evaluations performed by a psychologist.

But we also get to include more personal items including answers to many questions, pictures of our family and home, and even a video about us! Below are some snapshots of us prepping our photos for the Dossier.

Throughout the entire process, we're finding there is quite a bit of waiting.In the waiting, I continue to pray for our children and would love for anyone and everyone to join me in prayer. Even though I don't know the name, age, sex, or even how many children we will have, I am comforted knowing God knows. I pray God will continue to protect my children in whatever circumstances they are encountering right now and that He would make His presence known to them. I pray that all of our hearts will be prepared for the love, joy, and challenges we will all face as we unite in the future.

I can see where God is already working in my heart – especially when it comes to patience. ? Thanks to everyone for all your support and prayers!

Until next time – all our love!