Josh and I attended a two day class at Gladney's campus in Fort Worth a few weeks ago called, Pathways. First, let me say the place is beautiful. Walking into the building we found the only adoption museum in the country. We took times during breaks to check it out and it is pretty neat.
The class was well....Interesting. The people who taught it were amazing and made it as enjoyable as possible and we were fed very well! (SCORE!) They were VERY honest with us about issues that some older children (2 and over) experience after being in the foster system or an orphanage and some things were very rough to hear. I won't bore you with details but when we left the first day I felt very overwhelmed and was doubting myself. But after talking about the class with Josh and a good night's sleep, I was ready for day 2.
The second day was less scary and overwhelming. It was more about learning how to deal with a child who may have attachment, sensory, or other issues they have seen with children. I was very glad we attended this class because let's face it, we are going into this completely blind and I tend not to do well in those situations. So any help or advice from professionals is welcome in the Franklin house. Here is a pic of all the families adopting from China that were at Pathways with us:
Next step: we scheduled our home study for July 10th and we actually met our case worker at Pathways so it is nice to have already met her before she comes into the house. In the meantime we were fingerprinted and have even more paperwork to fill out! YAY!
Please continue to keep us and our daughter in your prayers. I have a very strong feeling she has been born and is waiting for us so we pray God watch over her and keep her safe until we can get to her and bring her home.