rooted and grounded in love.

It's been said that good things come to those who wait. And that is the part we are at in our adoption journey. Waiting. Now that we are homestudy approved, we wait to be matched with a family who feels they are unable to parent their child. Many have said that the adoption process is a rollercoaster of emotions, and we are finding that to be true, in many ways. From the overwhelming anxiety of not knowing when, to the doubt that creeps in, and the fear of the unknown. There's a feeling of sadness for all the children waiting to be adopted, who need homes. Then feelings joy of knowing that something great is on the horizon. Anticipation, love, happiness, caution, respect, appreciation, confusion, and hope. Emotion after emotion. Some days are easier than others, and then there are days that you question if all that you're doing is worth it. Friends, we aren't giving up, we are simply being transparent about where we are in the adoption process, and sharing what ...

We truly feel that even before we ever knew it, God was working behind the scenes in our hearts and in our lives, preparing us for where we are right now. In just August, we learned of Choosing Hope Adoptions, located right next door to us, in Springfield. A Christian Adoption Agency. After hearing about Choosing Hope at church that Sunday in August, we felt a stirring in our hearts, and so we pursued moving forth. And really, in just two months time, we have completed and met all requirements to be considered Home Study Approved! That call came yesterday, December 15, 2016 in the afternoon. Our Social Worker Sherri had texted me at 1:43 saying: "Hi, Amber! I have good news for you...and when you get a minute, please call me!" At 2:08, I called her, and that is when she told me the news! "I am happy to tell you that you and Kevin are homestudy approved...and...there's more. We have a birth mother that we are meeting with tomorrow at noon. She is pregnant with a l...

Hi, friends! Since we last shared on the blog, we had our fourth and final home study! It's so hard to believe that we have been through four home studies, in such a short amount of time! The adoption agency is now entering everything into their system, and we wait to hear that we are home study approved!  Saturday was the Chili Dinner and Benefit Sing, which was a great success! Donations given at the Chili Dinner totalled $302.00, and the love offering taken totalled $1095.00! A grand total of $1397.00 was donated that night, to help fund our adoption!  Thank you to each and everyone who came out that evening, and a special thank you to the guest singers, Jordan Ernst from Plum, PA, Homebound, and the Cole Family. We'd like to thank my sister, Amanda Inman, my mom, Teresa Carter and grandma, Paulette Cole for all their hard work organizing this event. We had a great service, and it was great to be surround by friends and family! We appreciate the love and support shown t...

Progress has been made since we last posted! We attended the required four hour adoption class, we thoroughly enjoyed getting to be a part of that, we were able to learn quite a bit! This past Tuesday, we had our third home study; which went great, and our final home study will take place next week! Very soon after, within a week or two, we should know if we are home study approved! Once home study approved, we will move forth with creating our family profile, and once that is ready, birth families who are looking to place their child in the home of a prospective adoptive family, will view family profiles, and the birth family will choose who they want to parent their child. Our Adoption Agency is a smaller adoption agency, who has been operating for about 2 years now; they like to keep the number of prospective adoptive families under ten - they currently have seven to eight families looking to adopt, and are working with five birth mothers. To us, those are great numbers! Looki...

Hi, friends! Time for an update! We are digging out from a ton of paperwork that we turned in last night at our second home study! As we mentioned before, four homestudy visits with our social worker are required, and we've completed half of those! Our next home study will take place on Tuesday, November 1st, or Friday, November 4th! Most everything on our end has been completed up to this point. Our background checks were done and mailed last Thursday, so our adoption agency is waiting on those.  We will have treated and hopefully taken care of the environmental bacteria in our well by the end of this week.  We are done with one entire book that is required we read, and have just a book and a half to go! Our three hour required adoption class is this Saturday in Clark County! We thankfully do not have to drive hours away to go to an upcoming class; they had room for at the class closest to home!  And the adoption agency will make contact with our references ve...

Hello, friends! We thought it was time for an update about our journey! When we last met with our social worker, Sherri, we had scheduled our next home study for Monday, October 24th. But we found a conflict that evening with an open house at my work, so we asked to reschedule for later that week. Today I got a text from Sherri, and she offered us next Tuesday, the 18th! We are excited to get our second home study complete, so we can move along to the third and then the final home study required! We've had a bit of a hold up with our well inspection. We live in the country, and have well water; and unfortunately a small bacteria was found in the water. So we now must take measures to get that issue cleared up. A small bump in the road; we are praying for an easy fix, at hopefully very little cost, so we can move forth! Kevin will have his physical this Friday morning, our background checks will be completed after that, and then this Monday we will have our home fire inspect...

The first of four homestudies was completed last night, and we are thrilled with the outcome! It was a stressful few days leading up to yesterday, preparing for this visit. While we knew what she was looking for in our home, as far as the safety audit went, we were still nervous and didn't know what to expect! Our social worker, Sherri was very informative, helpful, and wonderful! Everything on her two page checklist last night, was checked off, except for pet immunization records. I obtained those today, and will provide them to Sherri at our next visit! Next week, we will have our fire inspection from the fire department, Kevin will have his physical, and we will have our background checks done! The week of October 24th will be our second homestudy. We are so excited to be moving along so quickly in the process. We've launched a t-shirt fundraiser which you can check out here: https://www.bonfirefunds.com/patchwork-a-prayer-and-a-promise We thank you for your con...

Everything lately seems like a whirlwind! Things are happening much more quickly than we expected! Everything we've done so far, from the pre-application to the actual application, we've gotten answers for, far quicker than we imagined. On Wednesday, we were told our social worker would contact us within 15 days, to set up our homestudy. This afternoon, we got that call, and the first part of our homestudy will take place this Tuesday! While we are excited, our minds are spinning with all that we need to get done and have in place! Many have asked about the cost surrounding adoption. Most domestic adoption costs can be anywhere from $35,000 - $45,000. But with the Adoption Agency we are going through, the cost is much less, an estimated $18,000 - $25,000. Choosing Hope Adoptions, in Springfield, our adoption agency, they partner with other outreach ministries and churches in Springfield, and fundraise, to cut overhead costs. We've also been asked how you can help... ...

Our family is like a patchwork quilt. Each of us different, yet stitched together by love. God has perfect timing, never early, never late. It takes a little patience and a whole lot of faith. But it’s worth the wait. God is writing our story, and we are so glad you are here! First, we would like to ask for your prayers, as we want to have open hearts and open minds in the process, and pray that the Lords will be done.  Will you join with us in prayer? Thank you, friends! Adoption is a dream that has planted itself in our hearts like a seed, and we have watered it with prayer and fed it with hope! Our story: Kevin and I have always kept the idea of adoption in our hearts, but with the cost surrounding adoption, it always seemed to be something we weren’t ready to face. At church one Sunday, Choosing Hope Adoptions presented their ministry, and Kevin and I looked at each other, and just knew. We knew. This was a Christian; yes Christian, Adoption Agency. Right her...