Home Study Complete

So, we have been busy around here with paperwork and fundraising and adoption education.  We have read two books  The Connected Child and 20 Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Parents Knew and have done about 20 hours of online education.  So much to learn and so much to put into practice when we get our little girl home. One minor change that we made that could end up being a major change is that we allowed for siblings or twins if they were to come available at our time of referral. So there is a very slight chance that we may get two children. "What are we thinking" you ask? We just want to be open to the Lord's will in this area and if He wants us to have two children then this is what we want as well. :)

The home study went great. The boys did great and all the interviews went well. We are awaiting approval from Lifeline on our home study and then we will be submitting our i600A immigration form and then compiling our dossier to send to Ethiopia.  We are ahead of schedule at this point. Everything is moving along quite nicely and without a hitch, but if there is one thing that we have learned in all our many hours of education, it is that there WILL be delays and to expect them. Having the home study done is a huge relief and is a big step in the process.  After our dossier is submitted to Ethiopia which will most likely be in March then we will just wait and wait and wait and pray for patience. :)

The Lord has been faithful to us in our financial endeavors to raise money. We are planning a few more fundraisers for the future, but our Tshirts and bracelets have sold nicely and I also did some fundraising with my photography. I offered Christmas mini sessions and will be doing it again in the spring.  Every little bit helps, huh?

Now that our home study is complete we can now apply for grants and scholarships through the SBC and also though Show Hope which is the organization started by Steven Curtis Chapman.

We are loving the Holiday season and praying for our little one who will Lord willing be with us Christmas 2014.

God Bless, the Houghs

Interviews

We had a our first interview with our social worker at LBCH and we just love her.  She is going to be awesome.  We pretty much shared our life stories with her.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  I think that it went well and we broadened our horizons on what sort of little girl the Lord might have for us.  I always thought that I wanted a baby and a healthy child, but the Lord may have other plans in store.  We upped our age to 2 years old and said that we were ok with physical impairments that can be fixed with surgery such as club feet, and hands.  We just want to be open and we know that since Carter, our oldest, was born with a club foot, and I worked at Shriner's for four years, that we may be uniquely prepared for such. We have another interview on October 8th for our home safety inspection and Casey and Carter will be interviewed at this time.  Please, pray for Carter. There's no telling what he might say.  hahaha.  

We have raised around $1000 dollars so far and are so thankful for that.  We are mailing in our first payment to our agency in the morning. Thank you to all who supported us in buying shirts and bracelets.  Next is our phone interview with Lifeline.  We do not have this scheduled yet, but are very excited to get things rolling with them.  

Continue to lift our family up in prayer as we continue down this winding road.  Trusting the Lord at every turn.  

Casey and Hannah Hough

Home Study, T-shirt, Paperwork

We are finally getting settled in our new house and we are just loving it.  This week I got a call from our social worker that is going to do our home study and our first interview is going to be next Friday.  So excited and anxious about it. I know I shouldn't be worried, but they will be interviewing all of us including Carter, individually, and then also together, and then making sure our house is safe and who knows what else.  I know the Lord is in control and it will all be ok, and I keep telling myself this when I am tempted to get nervous.  We are working on raising the money for our first payment of $2416 to mail to Lifeline.  We are hoping to have it all by the first week of October so we can get things rolling even more. After that payment will we have a two hour interview over the phone with Casey and our rep at Lifeline.  

We got our t-shirt logo and are so excited about those.  They were designed by a friend of mine who is adopting as well.  If you need shirts made go visit them at Sonny and Cille screen printing co.  We just love them and can't wait to get ours.  Even Weston is getting one.  :)

We still have a lot of paperwork to get done, but we are working a little on it each night.  Casey is being very patient with all that is involved and I'm so thankful for that.  Thank you all so much for your prayer. 

the Houghs

Just Love Coffee Roasters

https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/willow/

This is an awesome company that sells fair trade coffee, direct trade, organic, and shade grown beans from the best growing regions around the world and sends the proceeds to families that are trying to adopt children.  If you love coffee as much as we do then this might be the fundraiser for you.  We appreciate all the love and support.

Casey and Hannah Hough

The beginning of our journey

I've been out of the blog world for a long time, but I feel that since we are starting this incredible journey of adoption that it is only fair to share with everyone about our incredible journey.  We know so many people that want to adopt and we want to share our journey and knowledge that we acquire with you all.

We have always felt like the Lord is calling us to adopt, but we just didn't know when.  We now have three boys and feel like the time is right.  We were always planning to just wait until we had all the money saved up, but through various circumstances we now see that we are supposed to move forward in faith with the Lord as our guide.  He will make a way and we are trusting him in this great endeavor.

We are planning to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia.  Her name will be Willow.  The verse that the Lord laid on my heart was Psalm 30:11 "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness." We want you to help us turn Willow's weeping into Joy.

We are in the process of having tshirts designed for everyone that would be interested and we will let you know as soon as they can be ordered.  We also want to provide a way for people to donate directly even if they don't want to buy a shirt.  No amount is too small.  We are grateful for whatever you can do.  You will find the donate button located on the upper right corner of our blog.

Above all, we ask that you would lift us up in prayer.  The Lord is mighty to do all things and we hope that you will partner with us in seeking the Lord to "move mountains" on our behalf and bring this precious little girl home to us.  We want above all to show the love of Christ and how when we were lost and weeping, He found us and brought us to himself and adopted us.  Adoption is such a beautiful picture of the gospel and what the Lord does in our lives.

We thank you for your prayers and support, Casey and Hannah