Hello everyone!

We are so excited to give you all the first quick update on our adoption process. We have recently returned from Rooted In Love, which is a conference organized by Lifeline to help prepare and equip future adoptive families. We want to give you some highlights of our trip, as well as an overview of our next steps!

Rooted In Love Recap

We flew to Birmingham, Alabama this past Wednesday to participate in the Rooted In Love conference, which takes place at the headquarters of Lifeline Children's Services. Going in, we were a bit tired, both from the demands of the application process as well as our respective work and school demands. That said, the trip was so refreshing and gave us both a boost of excitement and renewed focus!

More than anything, it was amazing to be around so many other folks going through the same process that we are, who could relate to the excitement as well as frustrations that we are encountering. We were able to connect with an amazing couple based right here in Central Florida, who were such an encouragement to us! There was also amazing conversation and education as we got to hear from adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents about their experiences and better understand how to approach the relationships involved in adoption. We learned so much about positive adoption language (some of which we've included below!), how to support and love both birth families and adoptees, and practical tips on navigating some of the unique challenges that come with adoption. We returned Friday night after a whirlwind 48 hours, and we are excited to continue our adoption process.

Next Steps

We have two home study interviews to complete in the coming weeks, and between the second and third, we have a new round of paperwork to complete! We are becoming paperwork pros now that we are right around the halfway point of the home study process. We will then turn our attention to putting together our family profile (which will be shown to expectant mothers), which we are both very excited about.

Our biggest prayer requests at the moment are for continued energy and enthusiasm to power us through the back half of this home study process. We also continue to pray for our future child and the birth family that will come to be intertwined with ours!

Fundraising Update

We have been so blessed to receive the funds we need to pay for our next agency fee! This will be $2,500 due at the time of our third home study. We will then turn our attention to the third agency fee, which is $5,200 that we will owe when we submit our family profile. We are looking forward to completing our home study in part because we will have access to matching grants and tax-deductible fundraising opportunities that we are excited to share with you all in early 2025!

We appreciate everyone's continued support and prayer as we move through this process, and we look forward to sharing more updates as we wrap up our home study process.

Nathaniel & Hannah