Here We Go Again!

Dear Friends,

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Mary is adorable, yes? Please ignore her mother's cheesy grin--she is excited.

We would like to announce that we are unofficially, officially ready to grow our family once again by adoption! And, once again, we are asking for your help.

When we adopted Mary we learned so much about the beauty amidst the challenges of adoption and were so blessed by so many people who supported us and helped us bring her home to our family. We will forever and always be eternally grateful to her birth mother, our friend who matched us, our family and friends and all of the support we received.

So, two years later, we are ready to start growing our family once again.

Mary is such a joy and we pray that God will bless her and us with the gift of sibling(s) to grow up with and play with. Since we are unable to grow our family naturally, Tim and I have been saving up and praying about when and how to start the adoption journey again. We have always felt that God wants us be open to life and open to whatever children God might have in mind for our family. Now that Mary is nearly two, we felt that God was telling us to pursue adoption again.

Last time around we started with an agency and we ended up being matched with Mary's birthmother through a friend and so we didn't use the agency's services, after all. Sadly, that agency is no longer doing adoption services. We are hoping this time around to start our adoption journey through designated domestic adoption.

Designated domestic adoption means that we are hoping to be matched with an expectant mother who wants to make an adoption plan, without the assistance of an agency or consultant. In other words, we are looking to our friends and family to help us find the child that God has in mind for our family!

Over the past several months, we have had a few different adoption situations presented to us through various friends, and while the expectant mommas all chose other families for their babies, we were excited to be considered and grateful to our friends who thought of us to be potential adoptive parents to these little ones.

Adoption is expensive. We were so blessed and so humbled to get so much help in the fundraising for Mary's adoption. Agencies and consultants add significant cost to the adoption expenses. We know that without an agency or consultant it is likely to be a slower adoption process; God knows that growing our family is on His time anyway.

Here is how you can help us!

1. Pray for us and pray for the child God has in mind for our family.

We are hopeful that God has a child in mind for us and that we will be an adoptive dad, mom, and sister. Please pray for our discernment of the best way for us to find him/ her/ them.

2. Share on Social Media.

If you have a Facebook or Instagram or some other social media linkage, please share our story. You could say something like this:

 "Hey Friends, I know this family and they are looking to grow their family by adoption. If you or someone you know is looking for an adoptive family, let me know and I will tell you all about how #awesome (or #sweet, or #wonderful, or #humble) they are." 

3. Ask around and Pass Along

Ask around about possible adoption situations--especially if you know anyone who volunteers or works with Emergency Pregnancy Services, OBGYN or Labor and Delivery, in High Schools or Colleges or at your church or work.

At the recommendation of a adoption attorney, we made some nifty "Pass Along" cards for you to take and pass along to those who might be looking for an adoptive family. Let us know how many cards you would like, and we will be happy to pass them along to you so you can pass them along to others.

4. Pray for us

Okay, so I said that before, but we would really love your prayers for our family as we wade into the waters of adoption once again. We are so excited and honored to have you with us on our adventure once again.

Peace and Blessings,

Tim + Jessi + Mary