It's been awhile

It has been nearly six weeks since our last blog update, and we have got some catching up to do.

Starting from our golf tournament in June. We had a great turn out and a lot of fun! WE RAISED MORE THAN $4,000 IN ONE AFTERNOON. That incredible amount made it possible to move forward in our adoption process. We were able to write a check for >>$13,750<< half of our agency fees, but that wasn't even the most exciting part....

WE TURNED IN OUR BOOKS!!!!

We met with our caseworker, Jennifer, and turn in all of the copies of our profile books. After talking with her we were informed of the final three classes that we must complete before placement. She also suggested something that is pretty new for adoptive families, and asked if we would be interested. She insisted that we have a profile video made. So we hired a professional videographer to come to the house and shoot us explaining our journey in a few clips to be cut down between 3 and 5 minutes. Once he is finished editing our video, we will have DVDs to send to each birth mother to view along with our hard copy profile books.

To view the same profile book that our potential birth family will see....visit and share BRAMANDJILL.SHUTTERFLY.COM

After finally having our finished copies of our books turned in, our caseworker told us not to get discouraged if we go a few months without our profiles being shown. This is completely normal depending on our openness to certain situations, and other families that have been waiting for a longer amount of time.
Well that wasn't the case for us exactly. The following week we were told that our book was being overnight shipped to a birth mother in Florida. This sweet girl was having a baby toward the end of September, and we were lucky enough to be a tiny part of her story as she found a forever home for her precious child.  We were told after a couple of days that she had decided on another family. Yes, it is a little heartbreaking at first to hear that we weren't chosen, but that morose feeling disappeared when we were told that the family that was chosen had been waiting for a long time and finally had their prayers answered.

So, what's next? We PRAY and we WAIT! We could get a call today or a year from now telling us that we are finally parents. We just have to have patience and do our best to be prepared. When we are matched, we will have 30 days to make our final payment of $6,875, so we have been working on saving some money and getting our classes taken care of.

We have had the privilege of being presented to 4 birth families as of now. We do our best to stay true to our belief that God will answer our prayers in due time. It can be a little disappointing when we aren't matched, but we know that we will only be matched with the child the HE has chosen. We just remember that everyday we are one step closer, and every NO is another family's YES.  So please continue to pray for us and all of the birth mother's that are making the most unselfish decision of their lives.