Surviving (and Enjoying) Our Homestudy!

Well, it is Sunday night and I am happy to report that all went well with the Home Study this afternoon. Phew! I must admit that as the time drew closer I started to get a little nervous about it. I think it was just that I didn't really know what to expect.

As soon as I met our social worker, though, I was put at ease and knew that the meeting would be just fine. She is so nice and has adopted from Korea herself! She asked us a few questions about how we ended up pursuing adoption, how we decided on their agency etc., and then shared with us about the process, what to expect, time frames and things like that. She talked to us a lot about the "training" we will need to do - reading books and articles, an online training session, and workshops. Now for those of you who know me, you will know that I am very excited about the reading part. And for those of you who know Brad...well, you will know that he is more excited about the online class! I have just ordered a couple of books and a subscription to "Adoptive Families" magazine. I can't wait for them to come in the mail! The book on the right, "I Wish For You a Beautiful Life" is a compilation of letters from Korean birth mothers to their children. That is going to be a difficult book to read I think. I am already praying for the mother who will give birth to our child, because I'm sure the next few years are going to be very hard for her.

Another book we are going to read is called "The Seed from the East" and I believe it is written by the couple who began adoptions from South Korea. I am excited to learn about the history of adoptions from Korea.

The social worker also took a look around the house (which was not nearly as intensive as I feared!), and that was it!

We are having our next meeting on July 22nd, which happens to be the night before we leave for Seattle. Yikes! I think I am going to be stressed out. Or maybe if I have everything packed it won't be too bad. We'll see I guess! After meeting with our social worker that night we are also going to a meeting for waiting families (all the families working with our agency who are in the process of adopting internationally.) It will be so good to have this support during the looooooonnnnnnngggg wait! We have a long road ahead, but at least we are officially on the road at last!