Yes, we're so excited to grow our family through adoption! And we want to invite you to join us in bringing our baby home!
For those of you who know us well, the fact that we are adopting will come as no surprise! Both of us have always had a heart for children. Even before we got married, it was somehow just clear for both of us that we wanted to one day expand our family through adoption - it was a matter of “when”, not “if”. We believe that all children need a loving and safe family and that people in vulnerable situations, especially mamas and their little ones, are close and precious to Father God’s heart. We have a deep sense that we are called to join with His loving redemptive heart through adoption.
This year, we felt Father stirring those desires in us again, asking us to trust Him step by step, and in April, we started exploring adoption once more. At first, we looked into adopting from China, but things have been closed here since 2020, and this closure was made permanent in September. Many other countries weren't options because we were expats. We felt discouraged…but instead of giving up, we felt to continue exploring with open hands, and that’s when a new unexpected door opened up. After lots of prayer, family discussions, conversations with close friends, followed by months of paperwork, we’re thrilled that we are home-study approved for domestic adoption from the States!
Now, we’re in the “matching” phase, waiting for an expectant mother to choose us. In international adoption, the adoptive parents pick a child's profile to adopt. In our process with domestic US adoption, however, the expecting mother who is placing her child for adoption gets to choose the adoptive family. We love this mutual yes to each other! We don't know when it will happen—but we’re stepping forward in faith, trusting His perfect timing, and saying YES to whatever He has planned for our family.
As you may know, adoption is a beautiful but costly process, involving legal fees, home studies, travel expenses, and more. We are committed to doing everything we can to meet these costs, including applying for adoption grants and using some of our personal savings.
Still, we know we can’t do it alone.
That’s why we’re inviting you to be part of our ADOPTION PUZZLE FUNDRAISER—a meaningful way to help us bring our child home!
HOW IT WORKS: We’ve chosen a special 2000-piece puzzle to symbolize our adoption journey. Each piece costs $20, and you can sponsor as many pieces as you’d like, donating here through the Adopt Together platform.
If you sponsor one piece, we’ll write your name on the back of the puzzle piece.
If you sponsor multiple pieces, you can send us a short message to write on the back of the section of pieces you sponsored.
The puzzle itself is deeply meaningful to us (click through the pictures on our profile to see it!). It features a beautiful landscape photo we took this summer while camping in the mountains of Sichuan, the very place where we decided to say yes to adoption. Printed on the puzzle is a special Bible verse that we feel God has placed on our hearts for this journey.
When completed, we’ll frame the puzzle in a double-sided transparent frame so that both sides are visible as a cherished keepsake, a reminder of God’s faithfulness and the incredible love and support of our worldwide community.
TIMING: Once we are matched, we will need to pay a significant portion of the adoption costs to the agency within just a few days. We will also need funds to book our travel from Asia to the US when the time comes to go get our baby. This is why we’re working hard to raise these funds in advance. Your support now will help us be ready when that joyful moment arrives and ensure we can move forward without delay.
Beyond financial support, we deeply appreciate your love, encouragement, and prayers as we navigate this journey! Whether you’re nearby or across the globe, we are so grateful to have you as part of our "village". We can’t wait for the day we introduce you to the newest member of our family and to tell them the story of how our amazing worldwide community came together to help bring them home.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being part of this adventure. Your support—whether through this fundraiser, encouraging words, or simply cheering us on—means the world to us.
With love and gratitude, Rachael & Michaja
P.S. Feel free to share this fundraiser with others who might want to join in!
***for this to work well, it's helpful for us if you at least identify your first name when you make the donation, or message us personally via FB/IG/email after you've donated, so we can keep track of how many puzzle pieces you've sponsored and what name to write on the back of the puzzle! Thanks!
