90 Days for Noelle - Day 32

Thank you for all the prayers concerning our in-home visit as part of our homestudy today.  Everything went smoothly.  Cora even offered to be the official tour guide spending the most time showing off her bedroom and play room.  Our social worker, Janet, talked about our capacity to grow inside our house.  It was heartwarming to think of our house filled with children and as I showed Noelle's room to be, I was excited about the changes to come.  The house is clean and everything is in its place.  Now we can relax...well for a moment.  We just have a few small tasks to accomplish before our homestudy is complete (my medical form and our Hague adoption courses).  Continue to remember us in your prayers as we have some important decisions to make over the next few weeks.

Psalm 5:12

¹² For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
         With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Lord, Thank You for your favor, your peace, and your many blessings.   You truly surround us like a mother hen covers her young with feathers.  You are everything that we need.  We love You and praise Your name.  Amen.

90 Days for Noelle - Day 31

We have our in-home visit tomorrow afternoon. Let me explain, as part of the homestudy, a social worker must come and inspect your home. As you could guess, this could be a little nerve wrecking especially for the Mom of the house. I would think that most women would find it a little unnerving to have someone come into your home to deem it "appropriate" to accommodate a child. Jessica has done great. We have spent a great deal of time this weekend cleaning..."really" cleaning and when we get home tonight from work, we will continue in it some more. I will say that this added motivation has been a good thing and progress has been made. For example, I have been working on the office and discovered last night we have a desk in there. That's great! With all the adoption paperwork we have, we could really use the workspace. I am sure the home visit will go fine. We have a terrific case worker and I know it won't be all that bad. I don't think she will give the house the old "white glove" test at least. She will mostly be looking for safety hazards. All joking aside, it is a very important part of our homestudy and please be in prayer as we complete this. Now back to cleaning......

Colossians 3:23

²³ Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

God, be with us today as we work to have our home approved for Noelle. Let us keep focused the reasons for our tasks and that we honor You in all that we do. Let us not grow weary but be strong until completion. In Your name we pray. Amen.