ADOPTION #2

FEB 2017

I mean, now there are three of them... They have expanded our hearts beyond what we could've ever anticipated, and it is because of our love for them that we know our hearts can expand for another. 

We have experienced adoption. We know the inexplainable way love and hope and joy intertwine with brokenness and sadness. We know how the sweetest of moments can be tainted by pain of what was lost. But more than all of that we know the redemption that can be found in every story. We have seen it. 

It is not lost on us that adoption is not the way it is supposed to be. We know that adoption is born out of brokenness. We have felt that brokenness in very real ways. But we all have brokenness. We all have things in our lives that aren't the way they are supposed to be if this was a perfect world. But God has taken our brokenness, He has accepted us, loved us, adopted us into His family that we might have healing and hope and redemption. We LOVE that we get to be a part of that picture of that same redemption for a little life. We get to be that love, that acceptance, that family, that picture of Christ. It is our honor.

For all the reasons our hearts have been set on adoption since long before we were married and now a million more, we believe it is our call, our responsibility, and our privilege to be a family to a child that needs one.

ESME'S ADOPTION

Feb 2014

First of all, look at those crazy babes pictured above. They are the best. They have made parenting such a joy for us. We can't wait to have a third child joining in on that fun! Plus, {biased as we may be} we think any child would love having those two goons for siblings!

More importantly, we have both wanted to adopt since before we even started dating. It was something we talked a lot about  before we got married and always knew we would pursue as a couple whenever The Lord revealed it was the right time. We love the clear picture of The Gospel and God's love for us that adoption shows.

We love the beautiful picture adoption paints which displays that deep, unconditional love is so much more than biological ties.

Love is a choice and a commitment.

We each have personal experience with adoption and we see a lot of value and richness that comes to everyone involved in the adoption process. The beauty of diversity that comes to a family through adoption is also something that we value. We believe that the decision to build a family through chosen commitment and love beyond just blood and genetics speaks to what the true meanings of love and family are. We think this is so important.

Travis has an adopted sister from Liberia. Experiencing the adoption process with his family and the resulting relationship that he has with his adopted sister has given him a strong passion for adoption.

I have always had a passion for children and a heart to share love with any child that needs it. I was adopted by my father after he married my biological mother, so I have a personal connection to and experience with adoption and what it feels like to be an adopted child. I also felt blessed to experience the adoption process with Travis’s family. That experience only heightened my desire to open up my heart and home to adopted children some day.

To put it simply, adoption is a passion of my heart and something I has always known I had to pursue. We know that we have more than enough love for another child, and we long to share that love.