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We've gotten that question a lot in the past week since officially announcing our move to Maine. People find out that we're moving, and almost immediately, the next question is, "How will this change things for bringing Peter home?" We expected that - it's a natural, logical question! I've been meaning to write this blog post all week, but time just got away from me. So, instead, for today's quick takes, here's your answer! ;-)
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The very first thing that we did when this job opportunity was placed in front of Mike was call our social worker. We were positive that if this was going to negatively impact our bringing Peter home, it wasn't from God, and it wasn't going to be our decision. After laying down the job details for our agency, walking through the scenarios, and discussing all possibilities for our family, we decided to move forward with accepting the position.
--3--
It will have some influence on our entire journey. God definitely provided, though, in more ways than one. How will this change things? For starters, we will have to complete an update to our home study. We know God had a hand in this, though, by how our original home study took place. Remember when I talked about our discernment process with even starting our adoption journey? About how we didn't want to have to get certified in one state, only to move to another and have to meet new requirements? That's the whole reason we wanted until we moved to AZ to begin the process of bringing Peter home.
Well, guess what? We're doing just that - starting the process in one state and ending it in another. Ironic, isn't it? It is....until you realize that the state we had our original home study done in (AZ) is one of the hardest, longest home study processes in the country. Our home study was "heard" in court here, and signed off by a judge, which delays the process. What it does provide, though, is an excellent final copy, one that our new home state will accept, almost at face-value. The update paperwork mostly is just related to our new change of address (and home) and new job/medical information.
--4--
Again, God was looking out for us. We lived in our house in Maine for 4 years....and are moving right back into it. We were the first/original owners of that house - it's brand new. What does this mean? It means that we have house plans, we have specifics about all details of the house, all things that our new home study agency in Maine will need to know. Knowing so much about our future homestead makes all of this update paperwork incredibly easy........and it's already completed. All that's left is a walk-through of our Maine house, which can be done as soon as we move in. This means our paperwork shall be completed, and the update finished, within a week of our move.
--5--
There will be a slight cost increase to our overall cost, due to this move. This is one negative, but one that we are confidant God will provide for. The homestudy update paperwork may be all done, but the cost increase still needs to be accounted for. Now, more than ever, our puzzle fundraiser is incredibly important to our adoption journey. Follow the tab at the top of this blog for the "Macbook giveaway" to learn more about this fundraiser, and how you can help. I'll also be adjusting the thermometer on the side of the blog to reflect our new costs.
--6--
Timeline-wise, we're expecting this to not have much of an effect on Peter's homecoming. The homestudy agency is expediting our update, which is amazing, and with all those factors I talked about above working in our favour for speed/efficiency, we're expecting the delay to be only a couple of weeks. Our agency is cautiously optimistic, though, that our change in information with the new job, the new medical benefits, the community aspect, decreasing our financial responsibilities from maintaining two houses to just one, will all be a huge positive in the eyes of Peter's government. We are all praying that our slight delay with the update will be counter-balanced with an increased speed from Peter's government, as they see our updated information.
--7--
What will this job change mean for Peter once he is home? Honestly, this was the deciding factor in taking the job position. This job will provide us with many benefits, that before were just kind of a dream. How so, you may be wondering? Besides a slight pay increase, we will also be provided with medical benefits that are more tailored to Peter's health needs. We will be moving back into an area where we have multiple ties to both the adoptive community and the children's cancer community. We will be moving back to a location that is much closer to our extended family and will allow for them to be actively involved in caring for Peter. Mike will be home more - going from a demanding call schedule to one that will require less than half of his current call time. We will be going back to a church community that we love and are very active within.
We absolutely love our community here in AZ, and we are so grateful for their support so far on this journey, and are incredibly sad that Peter won't be coming home to them. (At first, that is. He WILL be visiting to meet all of our friends here, that's for sure!!) However, when we looked at the overall picture, and prayed about it, we knew, without a doubt, that this was what God was calling us be.
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I hope that answers some of the questions/concerns that I know are popping up in everyone's mind. This was not a decision that we made lightly, and we made sure that Peter's journey to his forever home was not going to be negatively impacted. If that was the case, we would not be moving at all.
Please continue to pray for us - the move is coming up in less than a month now, and we are starting to hit "crunch" time with packing and arranging details. I may not be blogging as frequently until we get to our house in Maine, but I will try to post updates as they come. Please continue to pray that we receive matching approval in the next little bit, and that we can continue to move on towards our little boy as quickly as possible!
If you can, please also share or spread the word about our Macbook giveaway! It's been so fun to be able to put the puzzle together and watch Peter's support community grow. The puzzle will be such an amazing addition to his new room!!
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Don't forget to visit Jen for more Quick Takes!
