WE MATCHED!

I write this post with a happy heart... we found out this afternoon that we matched! Here is a recap of what has been going on this past week and the timeline of our match:


August 25th- We saw Anne's (that is going to be the name I use for her on the blog) profile on one of the available situations pages that we follow, and sent an email asking for more information.

August 26th- We received Anne's detailed profile in the morning. That afternoon, we notified the agency that we would be submitting our profile for her to consider. That evening, we got all of our materials (electronic copy of our book and homestudy) emailed to the agency's office.

August 31st- We were notified that they had reviewed our profile and homestudy and would be comfortable showing our profile to Anne, as we seemed to be a good match for what she was looking for. They asked that we verify that we were fully committed if Anne would choose us and that we would follow through with this application. We emailed them back stating our interest and commitment. Basically, they were wanting to make sure that we weren't going to have our profile shown to anyone else before Anne had made her decision, or decide the next day that we weren't interested in her, after all. The profiles of the interested families were given to Anne that evening.

September 1st-September 8th- Silence. An agonizing week of silence.

September 9th- I received an email in the morning saying that Anne's social worker would like to know the best number to reach me and what the best time would be to call, because she would like to speak to me. At this point, we knew that there was something-- they don't call to tell you that you haven't been picked. We knew that the phone call would be one of two things: she had picked us, or she had narrowed down her list to two or three families and had some follow-up questions to ask before she decided.

So, late this afternoon we got the phone call saying that Anne had picked us. The agency emailed me a 98 page packet of paperwork that needs signed and notarized and over-nighted back to them. Tomorrow will be a busy day!

     This agency also requires full payment of estimated expenses upfront, within 48 hours of matching. We are thankful beyond words (and fully recognize our privilege) to be in a situation where this is not an issue. We have just over 1/3 of the amount that we need saved up in an account that we can access immediately, and have some amazingly wonderful, generous people in our lives who have offered to loan us the rest. I honestly don't know what we would do if we did not have that offer on the table, as I don't know of any method that allows for getting that large of a sum of money in less than 48 hours. The other options that we looked into (bank loan, home equity line of credit, etc), require quite a bit of processing time, and even some of our money that we do have in bonds will need some turnaround time before it is turned into cash in hand. I guess the lesson there is to be aware of an agency's payment policies and timelines before submitting any applications!

    We go to bed this evening feeling so happy, and so very blessed.