Well, we signed our papers tonight and hopefully we will be moving forward very soon. Did I say hopefully? YES I DID! As we were signing our papers, our case manager stated that we will now be assigned a new case worker for the next step. When we asked how soon that would happen, she said, "Uh, I'm not really sure." AHHHHHH!
Some other frustrations have reared their ugly head too. A week ago, the sibling group to which we have grown attached weren't on the website. Naturally, we were a little disappointed. Three nights ago, following several diet cokes at the midnight premier of Harry Potter, I couldn't sleep and on a whim, looked at the site and there they were. WELL, tonight in our excitement following the signing, I grabbed the computer to see if we could send an inquiry for the sibling group. Guess what? They were gone! I know that God has a much bigger plan than I can ever imagine, but it is so frustrating. So strange how you can feel a loss when you haven't even met those you are mourning. Please be in prayer for Heidi, Jackson and myself as we wait for answers to questions concerning when we can move forward, for the children that God has in store for us, and for the sibling group that we had grown to love without ever meeting.
The first leg of our journey has definitely been trying, but as we have said at least a thousand times so far, "This is a God-thing. He brought us here, he will get us through."
Thanks for all your prayers and you should be seeing a lot more of these blogs from here on out...at least I hope you will!
Stephen
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Finishing classes!
It's been a while since I've taken the time to share what's going on with the Mattingly's. We have our last session of our "STARS" class tonight...we have to do a make up class that we missed because of a mission trip with our youth group. But anyway, we are really excited to finish up the classes and move into the next phase of our adoption process. Tonight, we will have a panel of "team members" (lawyers, foster/adoptive parents, foster/adopted children, case workers, etc.) that we will have the opportunity to ask questions and get a little more insight from those who have been where we are.
As much as we want this to move quickly, it seems that everything happens at the same time. Again, the frustration of not receiving information on when and where classes will be held until the last minute is wearing on us a bit. Yet, we know that God is faithful and that He will definitely give us the ability to do the things needed. Our next step will be to attend "Spalding" classes for adoption. We will have two 6 hour classes that we will attend, one this Saturday and the other on Saturday, May 21st. Please be in prayer for us with these, because Stephen has a youth event this coming Saturday and is officiating a wedding on May 21st. Pray that people will be available to help us out with our youth function and that the wedding party will be open to move a few things around that won't affect the ceremony.
As we move forward in this process and begin to get closer to meeting children, we will be blogging more and more. As for now, please pray that God will begin to work in the lives of the children that He have prepared for us and that as we come together as a family, He will remain as the focus and guiding in all that we do.
Stephen, Heidi and Jackson
As much as we want this to move quickly, it seems that everything happens at the same time. Again, the frustration of not receiving information on when and where classes will be held until the last minute is wearing on us a bit. Yet, we know that God is faithful and that He will definitely give us the ability to do the things needed. Our next step will be to attend "Spalding" classes for adoption. We will have two 6 hour classes that we will attend, one this Saturday and the other on Saturday, May 21st. Please be in prayer for us with these, because Stephen has a youth event this coming Saturday and is officiating a wedding on May 21st. Pray that people will be available to help us out with our youth function and that the wedding party will be open to move a few things around that won't affect the ceremony.
As we move forward in this process and begin to get closer to meeting children, we will be blogging more and more. As for now, please pray that God will begin to work in the lives of the children that He have prepared for us and that as we come together as a family, He will remain as the focus and guiding in all that we do.
Stephen, Heidi and Jackson
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
In His Hands
Hey everyone,
After getting a link to a friends blog discussing their adoption process, I've decided that we should do the same. I think it will be a great resource for Heidi, Jackson and myself to be able to look back and see what God has done in our lives. Hopefully it will also help others to remember to keep us in their prayers.
Just a quick recap of how all of this has come to fruition. Heidi and I had begun talking about the opportunity to adopt after the earthquake in Haiti. We discussed it and allowed it to be pushed to the back burner. Then in October of 2010, while on vacation, God really began to convict us. It was during our trip back home that we talked, prayed and resolved that it was what God was asking us to do. Upon returning home to Kansas City, we started sharing with others to allow them to be excited with us and more importantly, to hold us accountable to following God's will in our life.
We started doing research to understand the process and how we could best go about sharing our lives with other children. We found that Missouri Baptist Children's Home was a good match for us and contacted them. We went to the initial meeting and signed up for their program so that we can be licensed in the state of Missouri. We had a home visit which was needed to get us in the classes. Our intent was to begin classes in January of 2011, but they were unable to get us in those classes, so we started in March. The classes are going well, but they are a little frustrating in that they are geared more toward fostering rather than adopting.
We received an email today that informed us that our assigned case worker has resigned so we will be re-assigned a new case worker. The frustrating part of this is that we were scheduled to begin our home study this coming Thursday and I am guessing that it will be pushed back now. I am trying to remain positive with the thought that it is much better to begin with a new person that to have to switch in mid-stream.
Our whole mindset during this process is that it is most definitely a "God thing" and since he brought us here, he will see us through. As you read this blog, please continue to pray for Heidi, Jackson and me, but more importantly, for the children that God has planned for us to bring into our family.
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Stephen, Heidi and Jackson
After getting a link to a friends blog discussing their adoption process, I've decided that we should do the same. I think it will be a great resource for Heidi, Jackson and myself to be able to look back and see what God has done in our lives. Hopefully it will also help others to remember to keep us in their prayers.
Just a quick recap of how all of this has come to fruition. Heidi and I had begun talking about the opportunity to adopt after the earthquake in Haiti. We discussed it and allowed it to be pushed to the back burner. Then in October of 2010, while on vacation, God really began to convict us. It was during our trip back home that we talked, prayed and resolved that it was what God was asking us to do. Upon returning home to Kansas City, we started sharing with others to allow them to be excited with us and more importantly, to hold us accountable to following God's will in our life.
We started doing research to understand the process and how we could best go about sharing our lives with other children. We found that Missouri Baptist Children's Home was a good match for us and contacted them. We went to the initial meeting and signed up for their program so that we can be licensed in the state of Missouri. We had a home visit which was needed to get us in the classes. Our intent was to begin classes in January of 2011, but they were unable to get us in those classes, so we started in March. The classes are going well, but they are a little frustrating in that they are geared more toward fostering rather than adopting.
We received an email today that informed us that our assigned case worker has resigned so we will be re-assigned a new case worker. The frustrating part of this is that we were scheduled to begin our home study this coming Thursday and I am guessing that it will be pushed back now. I am trying to remain positive with the thought that it is much better to begin with a new person that to have to switch in mid-stream.
Our whole mindset during this process is that it is most definitely a "God thing" and since he brought us here, he will see us through. As you read this blog, please continue to pray for Heidi, Jackson and me, but more importantly, for the children that God has planned for us to bring into our family.
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Stephen, Heidi and Jackson
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