"I will not leave you as orphans..." - John 14:18
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Why Adopt?

One thing that always amazes us is the fact that God’s providence has led us here...  Looking over the last three plus years, we can, truly, see God’s providential hand guiding us to the pivotal point when we decided to begin our adoption journey.  
Adoption has long been a topic on our minds.  In  fact, when dating, as many couples do, Travis and I would often talk about our future hopes and dreams.  And it was during this time that we had first begun talking about growing our family both biologically and through adoption.  We now have two little girls, Ella who is 5 and Avery who is 3, and we have truly discovered what a blessing children are!  
Though adoption has always been a consideration for us, it wasn’t until about a year and a half ago that we really began to seriously consider it.  We considered having another biological child, but for various reasons we decided not to, yet we still wanted to grow our family.  We started asking ourselves the question, why would we have another biological child when there are so many children who need loving homes throughout the world



Truly, the statistics are heartbreaking...
  • Every 2.2 seconds a child becomes an orphan somewhere in the world.  
  • There are 147 million orphans worldwide.  
  • Additionally, another 100 million children have been abandoned and live on the streets of the world!  
  • In Ethiopia alone, there is an estimated 4.6 million orphaned children.  

As we have both grown in our faith over the last two years, we have began to see the world anew - through the lens of the gospel.  Consequently, we want to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.  We want to be used by Him to love those around us, and to go beyond ourselves, to go beyond our flesh, to go beyond our self-centeredness and care for those most vulnerable, those most in need - God’s children.  Many see children as something that gets in the way of their hopes and dreams.  They see children as a burden - as a curse.  Yet, the bible speaks of children as a blessing, and that’s just what they are.  
We, truly, have been blessed beyond measure.  We have a great marriage, two amazing little girls, we have a roof over our heads, we have food to eat each day, Travis has continued to hold his job despite difficult economic times - all of our needs are provided for by our loving Father.  Yet, looking around the world, we see poverty, despair, hunger, brokenness, and heartache.  We are all called to God’s mission, and we feel God calling us to be a father to the fatherless, just as He is - to take care of the many orphans in this world.  
Our decision to adopt is one motivated by love.  The love of a child (or children, if referred twins), who needs a daddy and a mommy, who needs a family.  This is our child, though we don’t know him or her yet, we do know that our child is out there.  And one thing that we're certain of is that God will lead us to him or her (or them). 


Just as I said before, we're all called to be the hands and feet of God, so please consider what He might be calling you to do for His forgotten children.  You may get some ideas from my Helping the World's Orphans page...