Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Mark Your Calendars...

Well, OK, you don't have to mark your calendar- but we certainly are marking ours!!! Why? Why, you ask?? Only because the Education Meeting with Bethany we have been waiting for has been scheduled!! The meeting is August 13 at 6:00!

So, just what does that mean for the whole process? The Education Meeting is the very very last component of our home study. Once we attend the meeting, we are "in the pipeline." Our profile can be shown to potential birthmothers and we are eligible to be chosen as adoptive parents. Once we hit this point, the "real" waiting begins. There will be nothing else we can do. We will be one of those sets of parents who are just praying and waiting for some birthmother to look at our profile and say, "I like deese guys- deese are funny guys!" (Oops- slipped into movie mode there- 3 Amigos- remember?) But that really is the idea- our profile is what catches the eye of a birthmother- and you never know what might catch someone's eye.

And while we are on the subject- this profiling thing, let me tell ya...

It is not an easy process. I mean, let's think about it... All you have to do is write up a summary of who you are, how you got there, what makes you different, what makes you good people, what makes you good parents, what makes you a good family, what sets you apart from all of the other families out there, what makes your home the right kind of home, what reason to think there is that you will handle adoption issues well, how regular you are at paying your taxes, how you voted in the last 5 presidential elections (and why), your theories on discipline, nutrition, quantuum mechanics, the economy, global warming, public education, the Academy Awards, and which peanut butter is better, (JIF smooth)

OK. So I am exaggerating a bit. But it is kind of like that. You have to distinguish yourselves from everyone else in about a page and a half. Not easy. The text of our profile went through 5 revisions and is pretty much in its final form now. The establishment of the August 13 meeting date gives us a time frame to work with. We want to have our profile ready to roll immediately upon the completion of the Education Meeting. So, in the next month we will have to get the profile into its final format. I will add photos and work on the final layout and produce the copies in order to have the whole thing ready to go on August 13.

So, there you have it. That's the latest. Home stretch on the profile, meeting in a month, then it will be, as they say, in the hand of God.

Brinkley says "hi"- He stopped chewing on things long enough to say it.

Thanks for coming along

-ja-


3 comments:

Nick and Laura said...

So now that it's 8/13, we're all anxiously awaiting the details of 'The Education Meeting'!

Go Long! Go Green! said...

Now that it is 8/15, still awaiting the details from the meeting!

The Frahms said...

Hi! We're friends of Nick and Laura Garn's. Just came across your blog.

My name is Kimberly, and I actually had the privilege of meeting with Melanie on a few occasions. I remember being impressed by her..thinking she is such a sincere and incredible person...who makes people around her feel important.

ANYWAY, I'm definitely going to be checking your blog, if that's okay. Tad and I adopted our boys, so I can relate to your adoption chronicles! Especially the birthmother portfolio! My thoughts exactly!! We adopted here in Indiana. We brought our boys home from the hospital. We didn't want to miss out on the infancy stage either! Brady is 5 years old now. Jackson is 15 months. It's been the best experience ever! We wish you the best!

And, if you ever need someone to talk to...who understands the frustration of that waiting period...just let us know! :)

Kimberly Frahm