Isaac and Debbie Janssen

We are Isaac and Debbie.

When we were married in 2016, we entered the marriage believing that we would grow our family through having biological children, and it was not very long after that that we discovered that we both felt strongly that adoption should also be a part of our story. We had no idea that we would not be able to have children. After a miscarriage in 2019, and a diagnosis of endometriosis at the end of 2022, we realized that we would not be able to have biological children. We began to pray and talk about adoption more seriously at this point. While we were initially grieved that we would not be able to have biological children in addition to adoptive children, we now rejoice in God’s sovereignty and believe that adoption is what He had planned for us from the beginning! We are both thrilled and humbled at the thought of becoming parents through adoption.

The process thus far has been one full of learning and refining for us. Besides growing in our trust and dependency on God, we have grown to understand that adoption is more than just a fulfillment of our desires to become parents. During this time of waiting, we believe that God is using the information we have worked through to teach us that while it is first and foremost about the child and his/her wellbeing, it is also a unique opportunity to pray for and minister to the birth family (largely through our agency).

As we look forward to the day when we will be matched with a birth family, we are becoming more aware of God being our heavenly Father and more clearly understanding the doctrine of adoption. We are excited for the unique opportunity that God is giving us through our story to illustrate the gospel to those around us and to bring Him glory.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. - Ephesians 1:5 ESV