Been a while. . .

But we've made some decent progress in recent weeks! Our paperwork for the adoption agency is essentially done. Hubby is dropping off a last few items at their office tomorrow. I'm in the final throes of finishing our "Dear Expectant Parents" letter and profile book. I finally got some pics of hubby coaching - which I REALLY wanted to include in the profile because it's such a big part of his life. The book just wouldn't have felt complete without them.

Our good friends took some "family" pics of hubby and I at a local park last week - and Maggie (our dog) was even in some of them. I hope they come out decent - I'd love to have at least 2 or 3 to add to the mix of photos I already have.

Now we just wait for the agency. I e-mailed our new adoption worker earlier this week, but didn't get any response from her on where we are with moving towards some interviews. Hubby will be at their office tomorrow, so, hopefully, this will jog her memory to review our file and check in with me.

I was really hoping to be waiting for a placement by now - but our progress has really slowed. We completed our adoption training last week, so I'm feeling ready to move forward. But the agency had some personnel changes and I think the change in workflow is affecting our homestudy. I have to admit, seeing 4 other families at the training took a little wind out of my sails. They were all about where we are in the process, so it seems like the agency has a lot of homestudy work to do in the near future.

I know I need to be patient - there's probably no sense in getting worked up over a few weeks of delay when we'll probably be waiting for a placement between 6 months to a year. But I've gotten so much done recently, and I'm antsy to get the formalities over with. I have lots of projects around the house and yard to keep me busy while we are waiting, but I need to clear this process off the to-do list before I dive into some of those tasks.

I keep trying to remember Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. This whole process isn't up to us - we just have to trust that God has a timeline for this that will be revealed in good time.

For those of you who want to, feel free to pray for us that this process moves swiftly and positively. We'd really like to bring a baby home in 2009!!!