County Interview

So far the process to adopt through Riverside County has been slow but we are making progress! We had our preliminary interview with the county in January, they asked us a few questions about our upbringing, family dynamics, medical history etc. The interview was conducted by a psychiatrist, whom I thought did an excellent job "reading" us. We completed more paperwork (huff) and received even more paperwork to complete at home including an in-depth autobiography. In addition we were required to submit our 2014 tax return and our marriage license! I think they have every important piece of documentation we own, if not I am confident they will request it soon ;-) In addition, I am now CPR and First Aid certified! Whoot! 

Throughout this process I have been all over the place emotionally and spiritually. Believe it or not, I keep wanting to take control of the reigns! At every turn my first instinct is to try and figure out what I need to do to guarantee we get the perfect child for our family. (Do you see the fault in my thinking yet?) The funny thing about control is, no matter what delusion we are operating under, we never truly have control, we have illusion of control. In my attempt to regain control I have wrestled with every other option available to us to expand our family, and yet somehow we keep coming back to the county (the one option where I feel I have the least amount of control...). The last few months have been a necessary growing time for me, a time for me to change my thinking, to transform my heart attitude, and to realign my plan with God's plan, to have an accurate view of my own human frailty and God's divine grandeur. Instead of seeing all the obstacles we will have to face as obstacles for us to overcome, I am now starting to see them as a testament to what God will do! To realize that my attempt to rely on my hard work and ability will amount to nothing without God's hand and blessing. We feel that the Lord has lead us to a county adoption not so that we can do great things, but so that He can do great things, if only we are faithful enough to follow!

So now the journey really begins. We start parenting/training classes this week, and will attend these classes every week for two months. On the 18th CCL will come and inspect our home to see if it meets their requirements, we are still making minor adjustments but hopefully our home will be fit for a child soon ;-) 

Thank you all for your continued prayers. I am terrible about updating this, I will try and get better. I can not tell you enough how much it means to us to have all the support and encouragement we have received so far. God is working in our lives because of your faithfulness to pray!
Thank you!

For those that are interested I will keep a running timeline,
in case you or someone you know is interested in the process.

Orientation Class - September 26, 2014

Submitted Application to County & CCL - November 1, 2014

County Preliminary Interview - January 21, 2015

Parenting/Training Classes - March 12th, 2015

CCL Pre-Licensing Inspection - March 18, 2015