The past 5 years of marriage have taught us time and time again that so much is out of our control. We have learned (very much the hard way at times) that although we cannot control our circumstances or others around us, we do get to choose how we LIVE each day. We can choose to see the good in others. We can choose to see God’s hand in our story. We can choose each other. We can choose joy. Just as these expectant mama's are considering choosing LIFE for their baby.
In 2020, as Nick and I (along with the entire world) were sitting at home during the pandemic, we were also grieving a long battle with infertility and the loss of two little lives through miscarriage. Our journey to grow our family naturally has consisted of years of surgeries, endless appointments, supplements, shots, and overhauling our diet to help try to heal my body from Endometriosis and PCOS. All of this had left us feeling exhausted to say the least and we were both seeking healing and restoration. We decided a great adventure exploring God’s creation together might be exactly what our hearts needed. Instead of sitting in our grief, we wanted to choose to make the most of this season and say “yes” to the adventure we felt God was calling us on. In a matter of a few days we purchased a teeny tiny travel trailer (named Patsy), packed up our essentials, and set out on the road with our pup, Sadie, to work remotely as we traveled the states. Originally, we planned to stay out for a month or so and evaluate from there. Well over six months later, I think it’s safe to say we had both fallen in love with RVing and all the things that come with it - waking up in a new beautiful place each week, quality time together, hiking and exploring national parks, being spontaneous as we picked our next spot to visit, and just spending time outdoors. We covered 12 states, 13 national parks, towed 16,000 miles, and hiked 200+ miles. It was the sweetest time together. Our time on the road was so very healing and reminded us daily that we truly found the very best partner and teammate for life. Both together and separately we let our hearts rest accepting the blessings we have already been given.
Upon our return, we decided to prayerfully begin our adoption journey. Since our earlier dating days, we have always talked about adoption being a special way to grow a family. We have both seen adoption firsthand through family and friends close to us and witnessed the true gift that it is. We truly felt God has placed this on our hearts, and we were ready. We completed our home study with a local agency in October 2022 and were overjoyed to begin this journey. Our desire to love a child and start a family is so immense and we are grateful to be able to consider growing our family through adoption.
In late February 2023, we were ecstatic to have matched with a birth mom from Florida who was expecting twins. The following months were filled with a great deal of excitement, joy, redemption, and much anticipation. Sadly, in mid-June as we neared the expected delivery date, our match failed. We were crushed. Not only have we had to grieve the family we thought was so imminent, but we were also out a great deal of money that is simply gone.
We truly believe adoption is part of our story and have not given up hope. We know we will have a family one day. But, at this point, we are humbly asking for any help that is available. Thank you for sharing in this journey with us.
