Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Homestudy Approved!

Hello everyone!
We thought we would update you! We have exciting news, but let us tell you the story of how we got to the exciting news!

As of May 21st, Atonement was no longer our church home. Josh no longer works there, but Marissa is still the secretary there. We now worship with River City Church, and are hoping to plant a new church someday (In the next few years). We are learning from River City how they planted their church. So, as you can imagine, life is VERY different. Josh works at a temporary part-time job as a home inspector for Blake Strehlow Property Management (Cass County Housing Authority).

We were waiting for Josh to get a full-time job to complete our homestudy. Our agencies (case-workers) need to know pretty much everything about our lives; so when things change, especially a job change, they need to know, which requires paperwork to change. An amendment needs to be added when there is a change, such as a job change, once the homestudy is completed. These normally cost a few hundred dollars. We wanted to avoid that fee and wasting money; so we decided to wait. We had been waiting for MONTHS. It was hard.

In talking with Lifeline (our international agency in Alabama) they mentioned that the fees for an amendment come from local agencies. So, we asked our case worker at The Village what the fee would be, and she said that it costs NOTHING! Had we known that MANY months ago...our process would be further along....BUT God has a plan, and His timing is perfect. So, we proceeded in finishing all of the paperwork for our homestudy! 

So, last Friday, June 29th, we went to the Village for a meeting with our Case Worker (to tie up loose ends). We were excited to finalize our homestudy...BUT we found out that their license was up June 30th....to remind you, this was a Friday, which means they had only one day to get it all done before the license expired. Changes needed to be done to the homestudy, signatures needed to be added and it needed to be notarized. They said it could be weeks before the license would be renewed. Marissa was very sad in hearing that, and was hoping they could get it signed before the license expired! Patience was being tested. 

Well, a good chunk of Friday went by, and we still heard nothing....so we assumed they didn't get our homestudy signed. THEN, we got a phone call from our NEW caseworker at Lifeline, and she said she got an email saying our homestudy was FINALIZED! We were so excited that God answered our prayers! But, we still didn't officially hear it from our caseworker here in Fargo. So, we waited to make it public. The weekend went by, and we found out on Monday, July 2nd, that they DID finalize it, and that it would be sent in the mail that day! 



So yesterday, July 3rd, we received our homestudy AND sent it out to immigration! It should be in the government's hands on Friday at 10:30 am! 


Now, we wait. The immigration process should take 2-4 months, then we get to be on the waiting list for a child! 

In the meantime, we get to apply for grants. Woo!

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue through this journey. We know God has a perfect plan that is in His perfect timing. It is hard at times to wait, but it is so sweet to be able to cling to Jesus and know that He is in control.

Thanks for your prayers and support. We really appreciate it.
Love,
Josh, Marissa & Lily Svaleson