Fotorny Family Adoption

Dear Family and Friends,                                          January 2, 2008
       We're starting this periodic newsletter regarding our adoption to update everyone since so many people have been asking us how the process is going.  You are a memberof our support system and we value your prayers for us as we begin this journey.
       Over the weekend we started filling out the paperwork to begin the process.  Both Scott and Traci need to have criminal background checks and child abuse history checks done as part of the home-study process. We are sending these forms out first because they will probably take the longest to process.  These forms have put our minds to work as both of us need to list every place we've lived, and even the people we have lived with, since 1975.  It's a good thing we started with these forms first!  So a lesson learned so far that we pass onto you as a little tip -- keep track of where you have lived because you never know when you'll need that information.  Certain jobs and even volunteer work can require you to get the background checks and you'll need to know that information for yourself.
       The first adoption agency we were going to work through is about a 45 minute drive away, and we were going to adopt through the SWAN (State Wide Adoption permanency Network).  God seems to have closed that door, but He is good and He seems to have opened another door for us.  We discovered there is an adoption agency right here in our town with about a 10 minute or less drive.  This agency isn't affiliated with SWAN (which would limit us to adopting only a child from Pennsylvania), but it is affiliated with AAN (Adopt America Network) which will allow us to adopt a child from any state. Maybe our daughter isn't from PA.
       Traci's biggest question regarding the adoption is -- out of over 100,000 children in the U.S. waiting to be adopted, how will we know which one child is the one for our family?  We guess that we will "just know" in our hearts.  We are seeking the Lord's guidance for every step of the way.  Traci admits she is a very impatient person, but God has graciously answered her prayer and has granted her a sense of peace and even a calmness for the long process ahead.
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God Answers Prayer with a License Plate
       A few days before Christmas, Scott decided we would ask God to reveal an answer to us on Christmas Day by using a license plate. On Christmas Day, we were driving to Traci's parents' house.  After the boys prayed for safe travel, Scott prayed asking God to use the license plate of the first car to pass us as soon as we got on I-80 to be the state that our daughter will come from.  We were coming up the entrance ramp of I-80 followed by another car.  We were just beginning to merge onto I-80 when the car on the ramp behind us impatiently drove out around us into the passing lane and flew by us really fast.  We could tell it was an out of state plate.  A few seconds later a car from PA went by.  We tried to catch up to the out of state car but it was driving too fast.  We slowed down to normal speed and by this time, the car was almost out of sight.  Michael prayed that God would let us catch up to the out of state car so we could read the license plate.  Within what seemed like a few seconds, we were caught up with just the PA car in between us.  We were planning to get off at the next exit to get gas and the out of state car got off at that exit too.  We were right behind it at the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp.  The license plate was from Kentucky.  The chances of a car from Kentucky being on that area of the highway are highly unlikely.
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       We are excited at what the new year will hold for us.  We know that God has a little girl set aside somewhere in the U.S. for us -- perhaps she's in Kentucky.  We can't wait to find out who she is, and to see how God will reveal who she is to us.  We would appreciate your continued prayer support through this process that we are just beginning.
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Prayer Requests:

• For our paperwork and home study process to come together in a timely fashion.
• For calmness as we go through the home study process.
• For Traci to get the house organized and ready for the home study visit.
• For God to lead us to the little girl He wants us to have.

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