I have nothing to worry about?
My life is in the hands of my Father in heaven, and He only wants good for me.
Ya....all that worry and stress over our first home study meeting last night was for nothing.
Our social worker is absolutely wonderful. Within less than 10 minutes I was completely at ease, and it was very evident to me that God had hand-picked Kristen to walk this journey with our family. Wow.
Jim and I did get a chuckle over one thing. Kristen pulled out our autobiographies and asked me if I was a writer. I said no. Then she went on to say how long mine was and how it was the most thorough autobiography she had ever read. Ha! Ask me to speak, and I have got nothing. Ask me to write, and I will give you a book! Jim and I giggled about that on our way home.
I can honestly say that our meeting was enjoyable and even fun. She answered a lot of questions for us about integrating our Ethiopian child into our white community and family. She gave us a lot of solid, wise and biblical advice. Some of it we had not even considered.
We talked earnestly about our plan for the weeks following bringing our baby home. We were encouraged to talk through our plan and write it out. It is very strongly suggested that we cocoon our family for at least six weeks. This means that we will have no visitors of any kind during this time, and that at least one of us will be home with our son during this time. He will not go out of our home (unless he has doctor appointments) for this period. This will help the bonding and attachment process to occur. This will also allow our son to understand that Jim and I are his daddy and mommy, and that he is in our family to stay. We are still thinking through all of this, but I must admit the thought of being cocooned and secluded in my home for six weeks sounds delicious! {grin} We talked of so many things. I learned a great deal, and we walked away from that meeting really excited to move forward!
Thank you so much for your prayers. I felt every one of them, as I peacefully sat through the meeting and carried on conversation with a stranger with not a bit of anxiety on my part. On Sunday Kristen comes here for the home inspection. I am really not nervous any longer. I have a few things to do around the house, and we hope to set up the baby's room before then! Kristen will also interview Cadi for a bit on Sunday, and she will do either Jim or my independent interview as well.
We will then have two more meetings. It is possible they could both happen in August, so it is very probable that we could be DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) by the end of September!! (Providing that God provides the finances. We are earnestly praying to that end.) I am just getting more and more excited and less anxious as the days go by. I know that there will still be hurdles ahead, but I am praying that I am learning to truly rely on my heavenly Father who loves and cares for our son in Ethiopia more than we could ever imagine to.
And while I wait for my own new son, I will soak up my sister's boy! (At least in photos....)
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Addis Ababa Time