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Dear family and friends,

We wanted to give everyone an update on our adoption journey. We continue to move forward in the home study process. The home study is a several month process that includes every detail you can imagine about your life (seriously) written out and discussed, financial statements, physical exams and doctor letters, parenting education, marriage building, reading, paperwork, and then reading and more paperwork! It’s definitely exhausting at times but a very necessary part of the journey. Lifeline (our agency) wants to make sure your marriage is on a firm foundation before you bring a child into your home. They do their best to equip and prepare you for all challenges that will arise. A home is only as strong as the foundation it is built upon!

We have been so humbled and amazed at the love and support we have been show since we began this process! We have received financial support, prayer, encouragement and so much more! Knowing our family friends and church family are surrounding us and cheering us on means more than you can possibly know! Especially during the trying moments during this process, it seems that someone will sense our struggle and share a word of encouragement or ask how things are going and it gives us the push we need to keep moving forward!

One specific prayer request we have – we have started to work on the special needs checklist. This list includes every medical need our child might have and we have to choose the needs we believe we are equipped to care for. This list will help determine who we are matched with as we move farther along in the process. This is hard - one of the most difficult parts of the process but we trust the Lord’s guidance. He has led us thus far and we know He will continue to direct our paths.  

At this point we do not have a specific time frame for when we will actually bring a child home but we hope it is within the next year or early 2017! Who knows though, God might have a completely different time frame in mind! We just keep placing one foot in front of the other as we follow Him!

We appreciate your support more than you will ever know!

We love y’all!
Autumn and Bill