COMPLETED HOME STUDY

I know this is a weird day to be writing a non-holiday blog post, but it is an unusual 4th of July around here.  Yesterday our friends left town from our Hot Springs weekend.  On Monday night, John was glancing at his phone and realized that we had scheduled the follow-up Home Study visit for Tuesday at 12:30.  Glad he saw that.  So, Tuesday morning found me rushing around trying to semi-unpack and pick up the house.  Once it was mostly picked up, I piled the girls into the car for a Sonic lunch run.  Less indoor mess that way.  The car DVD players were still plugged in, so they watched Finding Nemo while chowing down on hot dogs in the car.

This meant that when the social worker arrived, things were pretty chill and remarkably picked up.  These flowers that have survived for a week and a half were also still on the table.  (Thanks, John, Lily and Bella for these beauties!)



Since she spent over 3.5 hours with us just last week, there was not much left to cover.  It was more like hanging out with someone we are starting to be friends with.  Hanging out with two crazy little girls glad to have their daddy home in the middle of the day, so it was a bit noisy.  After 30 minutes, she headed out the door, telling us that as long as nothing crazy comes up, she can't see any reason that we won't be approved.  What a blessing.

John and I have spent a lot of time talking about what it will mean to have four children in our family.  Especially after a weekend with four children that felt a bit wild at times.  We are trying to truly count the cost and prepare ourselves for the hard stuff that is inevitably headed our way.  And, as John puts it, we feel like there are likely more surprises in store for us in this journey.  Whether good, bad or neutral - we are bound to be surprised by something or lots of somethings.

When we were talking with our friends this weekend about family size, our friend shared a quote from their pastor who was asked how many kids is a good number to have.  He said, "You should have however many kids you feel ready to serve."  I thought that was an excellent synapsis of what is means to be a parent.  Am I ready to serve two more children?  Some days I doubt that very much, and I am hoping that God will give us his strength and grace during this process.

Thankfully, we serve a God who is surprised by nothing and who has his greatest glory and our greatest good in mind.