Our News

Family & Friends,   We have some news to share with you - and we know it will come as a surprise for some, but we feel now is the right time to share with you.  Danielle and I have begun the process of adopting a child.  We began praying about this a long time ago.  Both of us thought about it before we got married and we discussed it more after marriage.  The Lord used a conference that Danielle attended last year to make it clear to us that he was calling us to adopt a child.  At the root of this calling for us is: How do we give back what we have been given?  We are often reminded that to whom much is given, even more is expected.  We know we have been given a lot in life and we know even more is expected of us - and this is part of that.   While volunteering at the church early last year, Danielle came across an adoption agency.  We did some investigating and decided to go with them.  Since this is on the internet, we are being a bit a vague on a few things like the agency, but you are welcome to ask us anything individually over email, the phone or any other private way of communicating!  Back to the agency...we chose this particular agency because it is there for the mother, her family and the child which directly lines up with our purpose and values.   So, how did we get to today?  Beginning last fall, we filled out a lot of paperwork, attended a meeting, filled out some more paperwork, attended some weekly classes through the winter and filled out a lot more paperwork!  We were interviewed individually and together in the Spring - both by the agency and a psychiatrist.  We then had our home-study earlier this Summer, another round of interviews and a final home-study.  Danielle made some scrapbooks for prospective birth-mothers to look at and our home-study was just recently approved - which brings us to today.   Later this month, we will officially begin waiting for the child the Lord has for us.  This could take weeks, it could take months, it could take years.  However long it takes, we know this is what God has called us to do and we are preparing as best we can for the child he will provide for us.  As we talked about what God was asking of us, we felt the Lord calling us to be open to a few things.  One of those is that we are open to loving a child with disabilities, another is that we are open to loving a child of another race.   I expect you to be wondering right now if we are unable to have children of our own.  As far as we know, we can!  We have been called to adoption at this time in our lives and have responded to the call.  We have no idea what the future holds, how many children we will have, if we will adopt again or get pregnant.    This is a lot to process right now and we want you to feel free to ask either of us questions.  We will be posting more on this in the days ahead and we will also be making our blog private to protect our information and give you more access in our lives during this exciting time.  It is our prayer that we will honor the Lord as we pursue what he has in store for us.  We appreciate your prayers and support going forward and are so thankful to have you part of our lives and this great journey!   Much more to come in the days and weeks ahead.   Love, Ryan & Danielle