Home Study... Complete - Next up .... More Waiting

All I wanted for my birthday was two things 1: Home study complete 2: Raise the money left for the adoption While I am fully aware the second was/is completely unrealistic I also fully understand we serve a mighty God and if he deemed it so it could be possible :) So hey why not dream! By the way - This adoption has a way of continually forcing me to remind myself of the Gospel Today we completed our home study. Our social worker came and "toured" our house room by room. She made notes of how medicine was up high, chemicals locked away, smoke detectors in rooms, carbon monoxide detector present, outlets covered, guns unloaded and locked away, fire extinguishers located, and the list goes on... I am grateful to say our house has been approved as Safe :) Afterwards we sat over coffee and reviewed our service plan (what our adoption looks like - what we are open to and not open to) We talked for another 40 minutes about where we go from here. So .... What now? Now we wait. Our main responsibilities are concluded (paperwork wise) We wait for our social worker to draft the approval of our adoption (a 15-17 page document). We were told today that it will take at least a month to draft and request approval. As we talked about some facts with adoption I started to come down from my Home Study Completed High and realize how long this journey may be. Here are the Facts * Despite all of the fees we have already paid (you pay something every step of the process) we still have 15,000 dollars we will be responsible for AT placement. Subtract what we have saved up or raised already and we have about 8,000 left to raise * Last year - 7 babies were placed with adoptive parents.... SEVEN in 365 days. This knocked me off my feet. My heart literally sank. She did say last year was a slow year but 2012 they placed 15. And how many families are waiting..... you dont.even.want.to.know I began to realize this might not happen as quickly as I thought/hoped * There is no Deadline, no delivery date, no end in sight. Once approved our profile book will be given to the pregnancy counselor and it will begin being shown to expectant parents. We could be matched as early as 2/3 hours after being approved or 2/3 years after being approved. I am pregnant without a due date! Let that sink in - in my heart I am expecting a son or daughter and already love him or her as my own - - - but I have no idea when I will meet him or her. Once we are approved - if the birth mom is from TN she cannot surrender her parental rights until 4 days after the birth (for hormone reasons) after she surrenders she still has ten days to change her mind. There is so much left unknown. So many things that only time will tell. But what I do know *I do know I serve a mighty Lord that already knows what my son or daughter looks like as he has created him/her with Andy, Judah, and I in mind. * I know that the Lord will bless us with our child in his perfect timing and not a second before it. Whether that be 3 months or three years from now * I know Judah is going to be an amazing big brother and I see lots of kisses coming our sweet son or daughters way. * I am beyond thankful I have such an encouraging husband to love and encourage me through this So what now Now - We wait We PRAY and we ask that you pray with us We pray the Lord would open up opportunities of time for our social worker to work on our draft of approval and she would be able to finish it and it be approved within a month We continue to pray we will meet the child the Lord created with us in mind in his perfect timing and we would be held at peace in the waiting We continue praying for the birth parents (BOTH OF THEM - Praying they will both be a part of the process because with only one comes MANY more complications - all of which the Lord can handle ... see how I keep having to remind myself of this) - We pray for our ministry towards them and that they be overwhelmed with complete peace when viewing our profile book. We pray the Lord would continue providing the funds We continue to be obedient in raising funds. Where you come in: We ask that you consider joining us in prayer over the above mentioned things. We ask that you share our story (whether by sharing this link or buying/wearing a shirt, or word of mouth) We ask that you consider/pray about supporting us financially. There are several ways you can support us financially 1: Through making a donation at www.gofundme.com/maliskas 2. Purchasing our adoption tee shirt at https://www.bonfirefunds.com/maliskas-family-adoption/?r=25940

Deadline for tee shirts is January 20th and shirts will only be printed by the organization if we have 50 shirts pledged. If not accomplished all money is reimbursed.Help us meet the 50 minimum requirement!

3. Consider purchasing an item from the Etsy Shop. Use Maliskas in the coupon code and we will receive 20% of your purchase. AND if you purchase an item by Friday January 17th (my birthday by the way) Sarah is throwing in a free gift Deadline for etsy shop is Jan 31 We are working with chick fil a on setting up a spirit night to raise money for the adoption in Feb. Hope to have a date tomorrow Though the journey may be long it will be one worth traveling. So for now we wait..... and I keep myself busy... And Keep this song on REPEAT "spirit lead me where my trust is without borders Let me walk upon the waters where ever you would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my savior"