Home Study...COMPLETE!

I have been waiting patiently, or not so patiently, to finally be able to say that our home study is DONE!

This was a long process that we have been working on since October 2nd! (We began researching agencies in September, and we got our first email with information from Texas Adoption Center on October 2nd!) Now, on December 12, 2018, I can say that the home study is officially complete! Hallelujah!

This means a few things!
Grants-Now that we have a copy of our finalized home study, we can begin applying for adoption grants! There is a slim chance of getting each grant because SO many people apply for these, but we will do everything we can! I am about to spend all my spare time in grants upon grants upon grants!

The "List"-So we still have to submit our confirmation of funds before we can officially be on the list of waiting families. I've explained what the confirmation of funds entails in an earlier post, so I won't go into all of that again. I'll just give a quick update! We won't have to pay anything right now, but we need to show a bank statement and/or loan pre approval proving that we have access to around $40,000. We have a little less than $14,000 in savings and fundraising money, and we have a pre approval for a $15,000 loan. Sooo, that's just under $30,000. We need about $10,000 either in actual funds or pre approval, and we need it ASAP! Until we have access to the full amount, we can't be placed on their list, which means the matching process cannot begin! I woke up this morning with an extra pep in my step because I knew the home study would be finished today. During my lunch, I found out the loan amount we've been pre approved for, and my heart sank a little. I'm stressed! We are going to apply for yet another loan to hopefully make up the difference. (Again, we will not actually TAKE OUT this money until we absolutely have to when we need to make an adoption payment. We will continue fundraising and applying for grants until then.)

The final thing the completed home study means is that WE JUST GOT ONE GIANT STEP CLOSER TO BABY STARKEY!!!

We are closer, but we aren't there yet! Please pray! Pray for the final issue of the confirmation of funds to be sorted out. Pray for my heart! I'm so ready to move on to the next phase of this process, and I have been forcing back tears most of the day! Pray for the both of us as we make financial decisions that will affect our lives! Pray for wisdom to know what is best. Pray for the woman (whoever she is) who could already be pregnant with the sweet child we will adopt! Pray that the Lord comforts this woman as she makes hard choices. Pray for Baby Starkey above all! Just pray!