Hello!
Just wanted to write a little update for you guys. We started the home-study paperwork process on Friday, January 3rd. We worked hard throughout January to get everything completed promptly and even had time to take an impromptu trip out to visit our friends in Texas. We completed all the paper work by the end of January and had our home-study visit on Thursday, February 6th. We started working on our profile book the last week of January and submitted everything for it on February 7th. We received our home study back on February 25th, made corrections and sent it back the next day. Our social worker has submitted it and said it should be completed and approved by this Monday or Tuesday (March 2/3rd). We have not received the first draft of our profile book back yet, but they also said it should be done by Monday, March 2nd. Once we receive it back, we will look over it to double check if there are any corrections needed. After we send it back to the company it should be completed quickly and sent to printing. We will submit the PDF version of both our home study and profile book to MSAC (mustard seed), and become an active waiting family as soon as they receive it. This means we will now be sent every case an agency presents to MSAC. We are so excited and anxious to begin praying for these moms and their children specifically by name.
We are relying on God to guide us through the decision of when to present and when not to. We’ve been reading through the book Adopted for Life by Russel Moore. It is specifically written with the Biblical view point of adoption. We would highly recommend it to everyone, especially those interested in adoption or wanting to know more about what it looks like.
A few fundraisers we will be doing in the near future will be a March Madness bracket and clothing apparel with a design created by us. For our March Madness bracket you can submit your picks online for 20$ per bracket. We will have 20% of that go to a winner’s pot, and the remaining towards our adoption fund. There is always the option to donate more than 20$ for completing a bracket as well J. As soon as we get both of those fundraisers up and running we will post the link and directions here and on social media as well.
We have a few ways you can specifically pray for us. Our first prayer request is that we would be able to let go of our desire for control and trust God on deciding when to present to an expectant mother and trust for the financial aspects of each case.
Our second prayer request is for the child that will become a part of our family forever, the expectant mother, and our relationship with her. We would love prayer for her physical, mental, and spiritual health as well as prayer for her support system. We would love to have an open adoption as long as there are healthy boundaries and it is safe for our child. We want to welcome this mother into our family and let her know that she is loved not only by Christ but by us as well.
Lastly, we would encourage you to pray for the state of adoption within the church. After starting the process and talking with others about our desire to adopt; we have seen a clearer picture of how great the need is for Christian families/the church to adopt and/or support the expectant mothers, adoptive parents, and the adoptees.
Thank you for reading this long update! I hope the next one (announcing that we are officially an active waiting family) is only a few short weeks away! Thank you for all your love, support, and most importantly for praying for our family and future family as well.
With love,
Isaiah, Ashley, Zay, & Joelle Bragg
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