We are adopting a child!
We first talked about adoption when we were engaged, and agreed that it was something we'd love to pursue someday. Then God gave us four energetic boys in the first five and half years of our marriage, and we felt like we needed to wait before considering adoption. A number of years later, and God has brought all of six of our hearts to the place where we are very excited and eagerly awaiting the day that we get to welcome another beautiful life into our family!
Our hope and prayer is that God will give us a daughter, and we have named her Jyn Elizabeth. Jyn means "gold," and Elizabeth, means "consecrated to the Lord." Although we don't yet know who she is, Jyn is already precious to us, as well as to God, and we desire that her story be one that brings glory to Him.
As part of our adoption process, we have started a crowdfunding campaign. It is not unusual for adoption costs to total $35,000 or more, and we are anticipating ours being around that amount. We are brainstorming ways to raise the money that we will need in order to complete this process, and are excited to see how God provides.
We're praying that God does this in a way that shows His heart for adoption, and that causes all of us who are involved to share in the wonder of who God is and what He does.
We invite you to join us, and we are grateful for everyone who will be a part of Jyn's story and community as she joins the Hartke clan. We can't wait to meet this precious child that we already love!
