The Next Steps after the Home Study

So now what happens after the home study?

Now we put a basket on our doorstep and wait for the stork to drop off the baby, haha :) Nope - there is still more to do! But we really have come quite a long way, and are so grateful for everyone's support and prayers.

Here's our to-do list going forward:

1. Catch our breath and take a breather for a week or two.

2. Apply to St. Joseph Adoption Ministry (Kansas City, KS), which will be our matching & placement agency, meaning that they are the ones who will connect us with potential adoption situations and once (God willing) one works out, they will handle the legal paperwork to make us the adoptive parents of our new son or daughter. The application process for them is nowhere near as long as the home study, since they receive the full home study report from our Maryland agency. But we do need to do some extra things like get a letter of reference from our pastor, attend an infant CPR course, etc.

3. Create our "profile book" which is a picture + text book about us, what life is like in our family, where we live, what we like to do, etc., that will be shown to birth parents considering an adoption plan for their child, so they can see if they want to choose us. Basically the most important crafty project we've ever done!! Is there a patron saint of really, really important crafts? Hmm.... Christ worked in a woodshop so . . .Christ send us your craftiness!

4. Once we're accepted by St. Joseph's and have our books ready to go (multiple copies to send multiple places - our future baby could be born in one of a number of states), then we're in the waiting pool, ready to wait and pray that God would send us the child he has chosen for us. We will be officially a Waiting Family, although we have been waiting for a child for quite some time! So we think this a misnomer.

We will keep you posted! Again THANK YOU for supporting us throughout this pilgrimage, cheering us on, and giving us spiritual and material support. It has been a true journey of faith, hope and love so far. Please continue to pray for us.