A week ago today Bev and I travelled down to Jackson to the Bethany office there. We met with a young woman who is close to having a baby and had chosen our family to become the child’s “Forever Family”. So, in other words, if things go as she is planning for them to, we will have a new addition to our family really soon. Here are a few details:

• There is a cesarian section scheduled for August 16th. That’s TWO WEEKS from today. Yep. Two weeks.
• Mississippi law says that the parents cannot sign termination of parental rights until 72 hours after the birth of a child. But it could be longer than 3 days to. I’m not sure if there is an actual cut off date. The more I think about it, I don’t think there is.
• So that means that in 17 days I could possibly be a new daddy. Crazy, huh?
• The mom is white, and the dad is black.
• The baby is a boy.
• One of the reasons the birthmom chose us was because we had three kids already and she figured we knew what we were doing by now. Most days I can agree with that.

But the last post we’d made was about our adoption approval. We were excited. But as I said then, it really didn’t change a whole lot. Our profile book had been shown to a few expectant moms already before the official approval. We even had a question or two about why our pictures in the profile book didn’t have any “people of color” in them. The truth was that the only people pictured in the book were of the five of us. So it wasn’t like we’d had photos of neighbors and family and church friends and soccer teams and everyone looked exactly like us. It’s just that it was…us.

We knew we could stage a few photos: “Hey (insert black friend’s name), do you mind us taking a quick photo together so we can send it to someone neither of us know to prove I’m diverse?” But we decided against it. That would seem forced. There was another question similar to that one that we answered as well.

But that was early summer. In late May we went with some friends to the beach and had a fantastic time. We didn’t really do anything special except hang out at the pool and the beach. A lot. Here are a few pics from the beach:

This was the view from our balcony. There was the pool. And the beach.

You can never have enough crazy-face-in-the-pool pictures can you?

These are all of the kids waiting outside of The Mellow Mushroom for a table to open up.

Addie and Rowan doing some pose I told them to do.

And while we were there Ella lost her tooth. And then she really lost her tooth. So she left the Tooth Fairy a little note.

But since the beach we’ve been pretty low key. Addie and Bev both had birthdays. We got to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday with her. Addie and I have been running around the neighborhood some. She’s really getting into that. She won her age group in a 5k on the Fourth of July. We’ve done Ole Miss Soccer Camp (there’s a good story there) and Camp Lake Stephens is upcoming as well. It’s been a full but not crazy summer so far.

As far as hearing much about the adoption, we really haven’t almost all summer. Once we did get a call from our caseworker asking about our indicated preference of a boy. We figure that since we currently have a 1 to 2 ratio we’d like to even things out. So we said “yeah, let’s say ‘boy’ for now“. But we’ve not really heard much since. Now our caseworker did have a vacation and a couple of other things that kept her out of the office for a couple of weeks. But we started wondering about things.

I know that Tom Petty says that “the waiting is the hardest part“. Now I’m pretty sure he wasn’t talking about adoption, but I think he’s on to something. But we started wondering that if our indicated preference of “boy” was holding back the opportunities for our profile book to be shown. I mean, how often to expectant mothers find out the sex of their child? At what point in their pregnancy do they do that? At what point do they “choose” a family they’d like to become the forever family for the baby? Do they usually choose a family before finding out the sex? All of that is the tip of the proverbial iceberg of how my thoughts bounce around.

So last Sunday night I sent out an email to our caseworker with a lot of those questions. I wasn’t wanting to seem impatient or for her to think I was expecting to have a child by Labor Day or anything. Heck, I knew full well it could be next year. But just the not hearing anything was hard. We wanted an update of sorts. I heard nothing on Monday, but did get a call on Tuesday. She indicated that our profile book had indeed been shown. I don’t know how often or how broad of a reach it’s made (we had to make five of them, but I don’t think they all stay w/in Mississippi.) But in a small nutshell, people had seen it, but just hadn’t had the sort of questions we’d received before.

So up to know, we’ve just been waiting. But what we have been told all along is that it could be a not so long process, or a really long process. And to temper any expectations and not base them on examples giving by friends. Because each case is different. But it’s just been, um, not frustrating, but repetitive when people ask us, “So, any news on the adoption?” and we have had to shrug and say, “No, not really,” since the approval happened. For a while it seemed like we had a form to find or a profile book to make or an essay to write or something almost every few days. But since approval…not so much.

But regardless of the wait ahead, I say “SORRY” about the lack of activity here. Not Yet Finished isn’t intended to be an “adoption blog”, but a blog about our family. But the adoption process has spurred its creation. But whether it’s a long time from now or not when we add the next member of our family, I’ve got plenty to share here. I’ve thought of things to post about every other day, but just not taken the first step of logging in.

But I’ve warmed up my “blogging muscles” now. So expect more soon.

Last week we got a letter from Bethany Christian Services. We’ve gotten plenty. Sometimes it was something we needed to sign to return. Sometimes it was some information we needed to read over and consider. Sometimes it was just more forms to fill out.

But this time it was a letter telling us that we had been officially approved. What does this mean? Well, it’s huge and it’s not much change, if that makes any sense. Today doesn’t really feel a lot different that last week. I still feel like we’re waiting. Maybe because I assumed that being approved was a foregone conclusion.

But it is nice to know that our Profile Book is now being shown regularly to expectant moms around the state. We’ve even had a question or two from an expectant mom. So again…now we wait. It could be a matter of months. Or it could be a matter of years. But it’s a time to wait upon the Lord. I know that can sound pretty cliche. But it’s the truth. I can’t rush Him or rush the process.

Addie asked if I thought we’d have a baby by the end of the year, by Christmas time. I really don’t know. Part of me thinks “probably so” because we’re open to a few more things than many adoptive families. But there is really no way to know for sure.

So that’s where we are right now. And sorry for not posting more often. I need to fill everyone in on how soccer has been going, how school is wrapping up, and a bit of running by our family. Those will come soon.

We had ordered some shirts before from an organization called 147 Million Orphans and sold them at the Chick-fil-A night. But they also carry necklaces made by women in Uganda from the Karamojong tribe. And we’re thinking that a great idea is to let folks buy a necklace made by the ladies from Uganda to give to their own mothers for Mother’s Day! When you do this, a portion will go to the ladies of Karamojong and a portion will go towards our upcoming adoption.

Here are a couple of pics of the necklaces:

They are quite long and need to be doubled up. They look awesome, go with anything, and are made from…wait for it..magazines! Yep. Very colorful and bright. And they are only $20!

If you are interested in purchasing a necklace for your mother (or other) and also helping out the Karamojong ladies , leave us a comment below or contact us by Facebook or phone. We intend to make one big order by April 25th. Hope to hear from you soon. Let us know if you have any questions.

Over a year ago, Blake and I went to a gala for Bethany in Memphis.  Adoption had been on our minds and hearts before this event just because we had friends who were in the process of adopting.  I think up until this point we would have said we supported adoption but it was in the way of supporting others who were called.  That night after the gala as we were driving home God was definitely stirring up questions in our hearts about what this may look like for our family.

Within a few weeks of this gala, back in Oxford our family went on a field trip to the Fiddlin Rooster Farm (ask me later about this).  At the farm, I ran into a family who I had met before but did not know well.  I could not keep my eyes off of them.  It was all I could do not to lock this mom in the bathroom and ask her twenty questions.  Yes, they had two adopted children – one a baby who they just had gotten only a few months before.  God was stirring!

Months past and there were days when I was so sure that we were suppose to do something with this adoption stuff and then the very next day I would be so full of doubts.  And the days continued on like this for a while.  Sometimes adoption was so heavy on my heart and other times I would go weeks without thinking much about it.

Time passed and the 4th of July rolled around.  We took the kids to see the fireworks on campus at Ole Miss.  It was dark by the time we got to the hill of the practice field and we couldn’t really see where we were putting our blanket down or who we were by.  But can you guess it?  Yes, there we were by this same family who I had not seen or talked to since months before.  God was stirring!

By this time I had decided I just needed to call this lady and talk with her.  I got her phone number from a friend, but did not call.  In the back of my mind I had kinda told God something like this,  ”If I see her again, I will definitely know this is something I am suppose to move forward with.”  Please tell me you do this.  I wasn’t really testing God (or was I?) and eventually maybe I was going to get around to calling her.

So, how does Chick-fil-A fit into this story?  Well, one afternoon I was running into Chick-fil-A to get cow masks for my kids to wear to that nights event of “Dress Like a Cow and Get Free Chicken”.  We are all about free food from one of our favorite restaurants.  As I am jumping out of the car to run in, I saw her with her whole family dressed like cows.  God was definitely getting my attention!

After talking with her a minute and asking if I could call her sometime I got back in the van and cried and cried and cried.  Oh, He is so loving.  He is so patient.  He is so real.  He had heard my goofy request and if that is what I needed to step out and take action, then He was ready and willing to let me see this lady again there at Chick-fil-A.  I can hear him whispering, “Oh, Bev, I know you.  I created you.  You want to see her as proof of that then okay.  Here I am.  Do you see Me?  Do you hear Me?  I am still at work.”  God was stirring!

And still stirring and working He is.  Blake and I eventually decided that we had prayed and prayed and prayed some more, so maybe it was time we started taking some active steps in these prayers we kept praying.  We began to pursue what we needed to do to bring a child into our home through adoption.  You know after taking those first few steps it seems like we have gotten continued confirmation of His plan for us.

So if you read our last post, you know we had a fundraising night at Chick-fil-A last Thursday.  It was AMAZING!  I am not talking about the money we raised although we are very thankful for that part of it.  I am talking about the parking lot being so full you had to park at other businesses close by and walk over.  I am talking about packing out that place so much it was hard to find a seat.  I am talking about the lines people were waiting in to place their order and get their food.  I am talking about the play area full to probably over capacity.  I am talking about all the girls who are wearing bracelets that our daughters made to help in there own way in this adoption.  I am talking about friends and family from all different arenas of our lives – people from church, people from the gym, people from high school, people from the soccer field, people from our homeschool group, people from other peoples friends,  people from our small group, people from our favorite candy shop in town, just so many people.  There we all were in Chick-fil-A and once again He was showing me how good He is and how he is loving me through everyone of these people.

Thank you to everyone who is giving us support and encouragement.

Our kids love Chick-fil-A. Who am I kidding, I love Chick-fil-A too. I’ve become a big fan of the spicy chicken sandwich. But while we were living in Clinton, the youth group had a prayer breakfast there every Tuesday morning. And my own kids wanted to go about once a week. And then sometimes we’d just stop by for ice cream (I mean Ice Dream). So we went a good bit.

When we moved to Oxford we were a touch disappointed when there was no Chick-fil-A here (not counting the one in the UM Student Union.) But when word hit that there was a Chick-fil-A about to open up here in Oxford, we were so excited. And we made it to opening day. Remember this post?

Well we are having a fundraiser tomorrow night at Chick-fil-A here in Oxford (and in Tupelo!) We will get a portion of all dine in sales to go towards out adoption. Plus the Cow will be there for pictures. And we’ll have shirts from 147 Million Orphans to order. And Addie and Ella have been making bracelets as well.

So from 5-9pm in Oxford, or 4-7pm in Tupelo, we invite you to come eat a little chicken with us, order up some fries, and enjoy a milkshake as we raise a little money for Baby Thompson!

We were originally scheduled to have our Home Study done on the fourth of March. But our case worker had an emergency happen the day before that required us to reschedule things until tomorrow, Wednesday. If you’re not sure what a home study is, it’s basically where the case worker actually comes to your home to screen the home and life of family looking to adopt a child.

I think we’re ready for it. There are still a few light bulbs we need to replace and a Carbon Monoxide detector needs to be put into place, but we’ll get that done in a few minutes. Our case worker said it’s really nothing to be worried about. She just wants to see the home to make sure it’s acceptable and not a dangerous environment. Plus, she’s not met our kids yet, so she’ll “interview” them one on one. I really wish I could set up a video camera or something to see how her conversation goes with Rowan in regards to life and adoption.

But looking towards what happens after tomorrow…she will have thirty days to write up the Home Study. And we’ll also make a “Profile Book“. That is basically a book that has some pictures and info about our family, where we live and what life is like for us. Hopefully it shows our family’s personality and character. It also includes a “Dear Birthmother” letter. This will be a letter from us to the birthmother.

Then we would wait as our agency will then show our Profile Book to expectant moms whose circumstances match up with what we’ve said we were open to. The moms would probably be looking at a number of different families, so there’s no way to know how long or short that process would be.

To be honest, things have gone pretty quickly to this point. Our FBI background check, which usually takes between eight and twelve week to complete, was returned in three weeks. And we got all of our preliminary info in pretty early too. But we were told not to get too anxious. Because it could be a matter of months or a matter of years.

We’ll see…

I am a big sister to two (three if you count my dog) and I am probably going to have another when we adopt another baby.

I am making bracelets to raise money for Baby Thompson, and they are working out great! Hopefully there will be some pictures of the bracelets up on the blog soon and they can be seen by others. We will also have a Chick-fil-a night for Baby Thompson too!

I am excited about my family adopting. I know that there are 147 million orphans that need a home. I am proud that we get to bring one into our home. Anyone can help by adopting, donating money, or other things to help those kids – it’s great we can!

What do you think about adoption?

I stole this blog post title from GUNGOR.  If you have not heard them, go check them out.  Blake introduced me to them like he pretty much does with all my new discoveries.  He is good for me like that (and in many other ways.)  Anyway, Gungor has a song called Beautiful Things with a chorus that goes like this…

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

It sounds so much better when they are singing it than when I am typing it.  At the end of that song he continues to repeat these words…

You make me new, You are making me new.
You make me new, You are making me new,
making me new, making me new.

Those words are so sweet to my ears.  When the weight of my sin gets so heavy and the weight of the burdens of the world seem so strong, there is Hope.  He is making me new!  In the crazy chaos of this life, He is bringing beautiful things out of the ugly.  He is not finished with me.  He is so beautiful and I am in Christ, my hope of glory.

So here I am!  It has taken me eight years to get here but I am finally participating in the blog world by contributing instead of just partaking.  I admit I made fun of Blake in his early days of starting his blog.  I asked him why he wanted to write a dairy for the world to read.  I didn’t get it.

Then I was hooked after reading his first few posts.  I would check his blog daily for updates and began critizing him when his posts were infrequent.  Now, I am not one to spend hours roaming and reading blogs.  I have a short window of blog time after my kids have gotten in bed and before I spend some down time with Blake.  But during that time I have gotten to know some folks through the blogosphere I would never have met otherwise.  (Well we still have not met.)

My eyes have been opened to others lives.  I can learn so much about the world and the needs of others outside of my little bubble.  I can keep up with a family in Haiti serving in one of the most desperate places in the world.  I can hear all about the journey of a family of 9 in Nashville living out the call of Jesus on their lives.  I can read about young Katie and all her kids in Uganda Africa. I can keep up with friends and family through reading when we don’t always have opportunity to talk daily.

So why am I blogging now? I guess this is my small way of sharing what God is doing in our family while connecting with others. I’m not making any promises about how often I’ll post, but I’ll admit I have plenty of ideas swirling in my head right now. And if you have any questions along the way, please leave a comment for us below. And hopefully through our family blog you’ll get to know the kids as well.