Actually she is a girl. She is a girl that was born many years ago, to a different mother and father that for whatever reasons could not take care of her. She is one day to become ours. We feel the same excitement we felt when we found out we were pregnant with our children, less the morning sickness! We have no idea how old our girl is, or what exactly she looks like but we do know she is beautiful and that she was made for us. She is out there somewhere. We are praying for her daily and cannot wait to find her and bring her home.
We have three biological children, each of whom were physically knit into my womb by the hands of God. Kennedy, age 8, is beautiful, wise beyond her years and has a servant's heart that is a sparkling gem in this selfish world we live in. She is bright and studious, responsible and loves to please. Our second is Farrell, age 6. He is fun, funny and quite the opposite of his older sister. He makes us laugh every day. His highs are very high and his lows are low. He will most definitely be a salesman or other profession in which he will entertainingly persuade people to buy into whatever he is selling. And he will persuade you! We just pray it's for Jesus' sake! Nolan, our youngest is 3 years old. He is simply adorable, with near violet colored eyes. He has a strong will and makes his opinions known and know often. He would probably be best as an only child as he does not like to share his things or his people. What 3 year old does?
We enjoy all three of our kids and value our time with them over anything else in the world. We are so fortunate to have these precious kiddos under our roof and in our lives. Our desire has always been to have at least three kids. My desire in particular has always been to have four; ideally two boys and two girls. You know, for trips to the amusement park and even riding partners. After my youngest son Nolan was born and his toddler year and a half was rather difficult to state it lightly and also once we were free from diapers and bottles, we knew we couldn't go back to having more babies. We felt content with our three, but not complete.
Throughout our 10+ years of marriage we have casually discussed the idea of fostering children but quickly came to the decision that it would be too heart breaking to love a child just to let him or her possibly go. So we moved on from the idea. We have had many friends that have fostered /or adopted children. Whether close friends or more distant Facebook friends (if you know us and have ever shared your adoption story with us in person or on Facebook - this is you!), all of these people have been a significant reason why we are joining the adoption community and choosing to adopt a child. Some just planted the seed. Some shared amazing stories of heartbreak and encouragement and beautiful pictures. I even had a student I worked with at church this past year that was adopted, and her story made a tremendous impact on me as well. Most of our friends that have gone through or are going through the process of adoption have shared of how God lead them to and through the entire process and how He has concisely placed precious, young souls in their families that brought glory to God - this inspires us more than anything! What a beautiful physical picture of God's redemption adoption is.
We are stepping out in faith and choosing to adopt! It is our desire to find a daughter that is between the ages of 6-10 years old. Now that we are out of the baby/toddler phase of life and are enjoying our pre-k and elementary aged kids, we don't want to go back. We trust that God will lead us to the girl that will be just what our family needs and we will be what she needs. Whether that is the oldest of all three of my kids or younger than my oldest two. With everything in life there are always pros and cons, but we confidently believe that this child, no matter what trauma she has faced or what age she is, she will ultimately be bonded by love into our family. Any time a family is outside of God's perfect plan, there will always be challenges. But that is what every family is, outside of God's perfect plan because none of us as individual family members are perfect! So who is to say adopting a child is more or less challenging than raising a biological child? The challenges are just different. We are prepared to face them walking side by side with the "Manufacturer" of our imperfect family and trust that He will get the victory, whatever that looks like for us.
We have many questions and honestly do not know what to expect. We have just decided to dive into the process a couple weeks ago. We mailed our adoption application off this past week and now the waiting officially begins.
I couldn't help but notice something new about our most recent family picture that is posted above. This picture was taken in March of this year by a very talented photographer (https://www.facebook.com/HPtakesphotos - you like that plug HP?:), many months before we made the decision to adopt. This family picture was beautifully and artistically off-centered, and I love that it was made that way! I more often than not prefer asymmetry. But I look at this picture through a new lens now. I see an open spot where someone is missing. Our daughter is missing! I smile now when I see this vacant spot in our picture. I know it will be filled one day soon and that day can't seem to come soon enough.
I hope to keep this updated as time allows. We won't be posting ultrasound pictures or a birth announcement, but we should have some news from time to time. Some of that news could potentially be heartbreaking, as some moments of adoption stories can be, but we will keep the eye on the prize and press on until she is home with us. Feel free to join us on this Journey to Four by staying updated, praying, continuing to share your encouraging adoption stories or even by giving us advice about the process in which we are just beginning to understand! Holy family of 6, Batman! We will be joining the "we have four kids club!" Ahhhh! Those of you that have four kids, you can start poking fun now:)
This is our official announcement. She's a girl!
We have three biological children, each of whom were physically knit into my womb by the hands of God. Kennedy, age 8, is beautiful, wise beyond her years and has a servant's heart that is a sparkling gem in this selfish world we live in. She is bright and studious, responsible and loves to please. Our second is Farrell, age 6. He is fun, funny and quite the opposite of his older sister. He makes us laugh every day. His highs are very high and his lows are low. He will most definitely be a salesman or other profession in which he will entertainingly persuade people to buy into whatever he is selling. And he will persuade you! We just pray it's for Jesus' sake! Nolan, our youngest is 3 years old. He is simply adorable, with near violet colored eyes. He has a strong will and makes his opinions known and know often. He would probably be best as an only child as he does not like to share his things or his people. What 3 year old does?
We enjoy all three of our kids and value our time with them over anything else in the world. We are so fortunate to have these precious kiddos under our roof and in our lives. Our desire has always been to have at least three kids. My desire in particular has always been to have four; ideally two boys and two girls. You know, for trips to the amusement park and even riding partners. After my youngest son Nolan was born and his toddler year and a half was rather difficult to state it lightly and also once we were free from diapers and bottles, we knew we couldn't go back to having more babies. We felt content with our three, but not complete.
Throughout our 10+ years of marriage we have casually discussed the idea of fostering children but quickly came to the decision that it would be too heart breaking to love a child just to let him or her possibly go. So we moved on from the idea. We have had many friends that have fostered /or adopted children. Whether close friends or more distant Facebook friends (if you know us and have ever shared your adoption story with us in person or on Facebook - this is you!), all of these people have been a significant reason why we are joining the adoption community and choosing to adopt a child. Some just planted the seed. Some shared amazing stories of heartbreak and encouragement and beautiful pictures. I even had a student I worked with at church this past year that was adopted, and her story made a tremendous impact on me as well. Most of our friends that have gone through or are going through the process of adoption have shared of how God lead them to and through the entire process and how He has concisely placed precious, young souls in their families that brought glory to God - this inspires us more than anything! What a beautiful physical picture of God's redemption adoption is.
We are stepping out in faith and choosing to adopt! It is our desire to find a daughter that is between the ages of 6-10 years old. Now that we are out of the baby/toddler phase of life and are enjoying our pre-k and elementary aged kids, we don't want to go back. We trust that God will lead us to the girl that will be just what our family needs and we will be what she needs. Whether that is the oldest of all three of my kids or younger than my oldest two. With everything in life there are always pros and cons, but we confidently believe that this child, no matter what trauma she has faced or what age she is, she will ultimately be bonded by love into our family. Any time a family is outside of God's perfect plan, there will always be challenges. But that is what every family is, outside of God's perfect plan because none of us as individual family members are perfect! So who is to say adopting a child is more or less challenging than raising a biological child? The challenges are just different. We are prepared to face them walking side by side with the "Manufacturer" of our imperfect family and trust that He will get the victory, whatever that looks like for us.
We have many questions and honestly do not know what to expect. We have just decided to dive into the process a couple weeks ago. We mailed our adoption application off this past week and now the waiting officially begins.
I couldn't help but notice something new about our most recent family picture that is posted above. This picture was taken in March of this year by a very talented photographer (https://www.facebook.com/HPtakesphotos - you like that plug HP?:), many months before we made the decision to adopt. This family picture was beautifully and artistically off-centered, and I love that it was made that way! I more often than not prefer asymmetry. But I look at this picture through a new lens now. I see an open spot where someone is missing. Our daughter is missing! I smile now when I see this vacant spot in our picture. I know it will be filled one day soon and that day can't seem to come soon enough.
I hope to keep this updated as time allows. We won't be posting ultrasound pictures or a birth announcement, but we should have some news from time to time. Some of that news could potentially be heartbreaking, as some moments of adoption stories can be, but we will keep the eye on the prize and press on until she is home with us. Feel free to join us on this Journey to Four by staying updated, praying, continuing to share your encouraging adoption stories or even by giving us advice about the process in which we are just beginning to understand! Holy family of 6, Batman! We will be joining the "we have four kids club!" Ahhhh! Those of you that have four kids, you can start poking fun now:)
This is our official announcement. She's a girl!