Update

I was finally able to get ahold of our contact last night, and she forwarded me the e-mail she received about the two babies needing placement. It sounds like there are two babies right now, one African-American and one biracial, but I don't know their due dates. Both birthmoms are teenagers and are working on adoption plans. The person working with the birthmoms was with a Christian adoption agency that closed a few years ago, but she still does birthmom counseling and sends out e-mails to her contacts when she is looking for homes.

I called this woman last night, and we talked very (VERY) briefly, and basically, she told me to call her back when our homestudy was finished. (At that point we will be legally able to adopt.) I was disappointed that we didn't talk further, but at least I've made the connection.

Our licensing paperwork was sent to Lansing last week, and fortunately the government shut down was very brief so it should go through fairly quickly. Our references and bosses also got their paperwork in the mail this week, and hopefully they fill it out and return it really soon!

After all that gets in, we have our homestudy, which is where they interview us separately and then together and then come out to look at our house. Our social worker told me to call back at the end of next week to set that up (assuming all the references have been done). I think that it is very likely that we will have our homestudy finished by the end of the month. After that, all we have to do is get picked by a birthmom/birthfamily.

Obviously, if we can find a birthfamily on our own, it really expedites the process. We have been praying that we have a baby before the end of the year. (Mark's ideal time is November!) If one of these leads pans out, that could happen.

Thank you for your continued prayer. It has been such a comfort to know that people are praying for us. I can't imagine going through this process without people praying, or worse yet, without God to guide you through it!

As always, I will keep you posted on any new developments!

**Garage sale update: It went well. We made over $230, so that was good. The last garage sale spoiled us, but this is still more than we made at our first garage sale in May. It is especially good considering that some of the items were on their 3rd or more garage sale! At one point, my friend wondered aloud how many different households were represented in our garage sale. As we looked around, it was overwhelming. I am sure that it was at the very very least 15. God is so good.