Cheri Strange, Christian Speaker and Author

Last week the Strange family participated in our third home study by the state of Texas. We are in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. Part of the requirements involve four visits across three days by a licensed social worker who is also accredited by our adoption agency. Fortunately, our social worker, Adela, is great. We don’t have any choice in the matter, so having someone you know you can trust, who is mature in the Faith, and knowledgeable about international adoption is nothing short of an act of God.

Today I want to walk you through our process because you likely are in contact with someone in the process of adoption. When they talk about a Home Study, today’s blog will give you a glimpse of what it means.

Adela spent Thursday evening with us over dinner and beyond asking general questions and talking with the girls in open conversation. We were the most anxious at this meeting. Yes, we have done this before. Yes, we have worked with Adela before; but knowing you are under such scrutiny is unnerving. You are opening yourself up to someone who recognizes a bluff when she sees it. She knows how to bate your kids to get the information she really wants. She sees through the Perfect Family façade we all like others to see.

Friday Adela arrived about noon and stayed through dinner into the evening hours. Each of the kids was interviewed privately. Then Chad and I were interviewed together. This is also the time we received a lot of helpful information about this third adoption as well as encouragement regarding our first two adoptions.

Adopting orphans is not for the faint at heart or the fearful of training up a child – no matter what the cost. Most people don’t understand. Spending any amount of time in an orphanage, but especially a decade, leaves a child forever different. These differences shape and often disrupt our daily lives. Adela understands. It was refreshing to have someone validate our challenges, celebrate some real victories, and support us in our sometimes unorthodox, but necessary, parenting choices.

The final day involved interviews of Chad and I separately. This is when it usually gets personal. However, Adela has known us for a long time and already has these answers on file. My interview consisted of the kids. Chad said his was more about the ramifications and challenges of adopting a child from Ethiopia growing up in a multiracial family; and the impact a fifth child would make on our family and marriage. Apparently, we passed.

Our next weighty task is to finalize our decision on age preference and whether or not we are open to a sibling set. We have about two weeks to decide. Please remember us during this time. The battle is fierce on all fronts. God says over and over in the Psalms how He cares about the fatherless and sets them in families…Satan has a different agenda.