On Course..

 I've wrestled with where to begin in this first post.. so much, that I've put it off for so long, that even more time has passed on things that we could share. So I've decided I will begin as if each person that is reading this is a friend who has some vague idea of how we got here and where we are at in the process. I'm just going to start with the most recent events and hopefully build off of that as time goes on.

Let me just first say the sole reason for this blog.. adoption. Matt and I officially began the adoption process at the beginning of this year, but God had been working in our hearts long before that. The name Cascading Grace, conveys the vision of God adopting us into the family of God and the doctrine of adoption carrying over in our life, as we seek to adopt a child of our own. Matt and I have been radically transformed in our thinking by this doctrine and we feel blessed that God has called us to such a "high calling." Adoption is not Plan B for us, but rather it has been knitted in our hearts as Plan A. Although we have not been able to have biological children, we feel that adoption is by no means God's second best for us, but His perfect will and plan from the beginning!

God has revealed much in our hearts throughout this process and also much about who He is. This road has not always been an easy one, but the fruit and reward that we are already getting a small peripheral glance of, by far outweighs any adversity. (Romans 8:18) We hope that this blog will not only serve as a stage for our testimony and a ultimately the display of God's glory, but also a practical place that family and friends can stay up to date on whats happening with our adoption.

With that being said, here is where we are at with things..

-Just had our first in-person adoptive training class yesterday in the city. We have our next and last in-person training class this Sunday the 30th. In the meantime, we are completing our online adoptive training classes. Once these are all done, the certificates will be sent to our social worker, who will then be able to begin the process of officially closing our home study.

-We received our PA child abuse clearance in the mail, and our social worker is awaiting the finger printing results. These also will be essential in closing the home study as well.

-We are starting our profile that will be shown to prospective birth mothers. This will include pictures, back ground, our lifestyle and any thing else that we would like the birth mother/parents to read. As soon as this book is completed, and our home study is officially closed (Lord willing at the beginning of July), we will then be able to be shown to any birth families.

-We can also apply for the Abba fund, which is a matching grant program through our church, once we have the completed home study.

I hope I didn't ramble on too much for my first post! But, I had to start somewhere.. so there we go.