In 2010, My husband and I had a clear desire to start our family through adoption. My husband was in seminary and we were working entry-level positions on a very small budget. We knew that funding an adoption could be a challenge, but we were reminded of 1 Thessalonians 5:24: “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” As a family on a budget, here’s a few things we learned:  It’s Good to Ask for Help. Not only is it okay to ask for help, but it is a good thing to invite others into our adoption journey. Through adoption yard-sales and community outreach, we were able t ..read more

Will and I are very blessed that we have always had a very generous and loving support system. We have parents and family members who check in on us, offer childcare as needed (though we live far apart!) and would help us if there was any need that we had. Additionally, we have always been a part of churches that have acted like a "second family" who have helped us with fundraising our adoption, brought us meals when we were sick or had new babies, who pray for us and love our kiddos like their own. It is not lost on us how blessed we are to have this support.  As I think through some of ..read more

 It's April, which is Autism Awareness Month. My family is personally affected by Autism, as my oldest child, who was adopted as an infant from Ethiopia in 2012, has a diagnosis of Autism as well as a few other diagnoses! When we started our adoption process, my husband and I were first-time parents who were interested in a "healthy placement." Although we saw God opening our hearts to more things during our waiting time, when we were matched with our son, we were told he was a "healthy child." When we finally had our first meeting with our son, he was four months old and we had no idea w ..read more

 Did you know there are over 1 MILLION embryos currently frozen in the US, awaiting implantation? Many of these embryos are waiting for new parents, as the donor parents may not be willing/able to use them.  Embryos are creating using sperm + egg. Now, these embryos may be a result of genetic parents that are married, or they can be used through donor egg and/or donor sperm as well. The genetic parents may not be the donor parents, but the donors who are responsible for the embryos have the legal property ownership of these embryos.  Why would donors not want to implant the em ..read more

 If you have been feeling the call to adopt and are longing to become a parent, I know it can feel overwhelming to look at options. Sometimes it is good to step back and evaluate what led you here and how God has prepared you for this decision.  There may be many things in your story that have led you to this point. Perhaps you have been through infertility and don't want to continue with treatments or have exhausted your options with fertility treatments. Perhaps you never desired to be pregnant! Or perhaps you heard a sermon, saw friends adopt, or couldn't settle with the thought o ..read more

"What is an Adoption Consultant and why do I need one?" We're glad you asked! You've probably already figured out that the process of adopting child can be confusing, costly, time consuming and simply overwhelming. There are a lot of questions and difficult decisions such as:  How much will it cost and how will I afford it?  How long will it take to adopt?  Which agency should I choose?  What is a home study and family profile? What are the risks?  An Adoption Consultant is someone that advises you through the process of adoption and serves as your "adoption coach ..read more

 In 2012, my husband and I brought home our first child through international adoption. That fall, I told my husband that I wanted to start my master's program to get another social work degree, but with the ability to work at a masters-level with adoptive families. From 2013-2014 I worked toward this goal, and ultimately completed a 500 hour field internship with Alabama Baptist Children's Homes, a local Christian foster care agency. After my internship was completed, I stayed on as a contract worker, writing home studies for prospective foster families.  In 2015, my family moved t ..read more

We took the kids into Manhattan and played at Union Square park one Saturday. It was one of those absolutely dreamy NYC days- the weather was awesome, the kids made friends easily at the park, Edith successfully climbed this big dome at the playground. There was live music all day.  After the park we walked to Madison Square Park and had Shake Shack in the park. Again, live. music. Israel watched pigeons, we had a successful ride home on the subway and Will even read a chapter of Narnia out loud to Edith.  It also was nice because we are entering a new stage of parenting. Annie i ..read more

One of the perks of the pandemic is the lack of tourists everywhere. We stopped in DC one afternoon traveling home, and were able to see a few of the memorials. It was really awesome to see the MLK memorial with our kiddos and see the man who laid out the dream that would lead to our family's makeup.  We definitely missed the wheelchair because Israel ended up in the stroller which was NOT EASY to push. Edith was a champion walker and Will and I laughed that it is a childhood rite of passage to complain your way through the DC monuments. I wish we would have gotten a better view of the ..read more

  These pics are all out of order but I'm not going to fix them. ;)  We took a day trip to New Haven, Connecticut in August. We wanted to see Yale and it was only a 2 hour drive and the buildings were beautiful. A storm happened a few days before and so a lot of trees were down but it was nice to walk around. There were NO Crowds. We ate at the most delicious pizza at this cute shop downtown. It was our first time eating INSIDE a restaurant as a family in months! We went to a playground for a few minutes but it was REALLY hot and the park wasn't great. We finished the day with som ..read more