About

I grew up in Minnesota, despised winter, and pictured myself as a California girl.
J grew up in California and moved to Minnesota for college
because he wanted to be in a cold "hockey" climate.

We are exact opposites in every way but somehow it works.

J and I met in this spot during our first week of college (Bethel University) - I may have migrated across that entire seminar room to get close to him...

We got married young - very young - three weeks out of college young.

We each took a turn in graduate school. We lived in NY while J studied woodworking and furniture design at RIT. We lived in DC while I studied international development at GWU.

We have been married for 14 years but because we were in school for so long we have just recently started to feel like "grown ups."

A few years ago we came to Colorado, two dog babies in tow, with low altitude lungs, city weary and ready for a change. The mountains and beauty have been a healing balm and it was here that we began to get serious about the next phase of our life together.

For the first ten  years of our marriage I wanted children and J didn't feel ready. He wasn't sure he would ever be ready (even though everyone around him knew he would be an amazing father.) 

We traveled and explored the world. 

We distracted ourselves. 

I prayed, often and with fervor, that God would either take away my desire for children or would change Jeremy's heart.

In year 10 everything changed (the reasons and the process would be way too hard to explain in this small space.) J felt ready to parent, I traveled to Ethiopia, we found out almost simultaneously that we were both infertile, and we began the process to adopt. (Not all in that order.)

I began blogging that year and now, four years later, we are parents to two children (Ariam with us in CO and AJ still in Haiti. ) And J did turn out to be the most amazing father. Of course!

Oh I can't tell you how much I wish we could merge the two photos above and 

have our family together in one place. 

When I was 16 I decided to dedicate my life to working on behalf of children. To seek justice for children and to protect their families. I felt like God had given me a passion for children and with that passion I pursued an education and a career in child protection.

Adoption made everything much more personal.

Nothing has demonstrated to me God's heart for children and families like being part of the "orphan care" and adoption movement. Where people are most vulnerable, there God is. And unfortunately, right there in the midst of a movement passionate about first families, adoptive families, children, communities, orphans and widows there is also the most potential for evil, deception, and for those seeking personal glory to hide and to flourish.

Nothing can cause otherwise good people to turn a blind eye to the truth or ignore red flags like manipulating their feelings for children or holding them hostage in an adoption process.

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, 

against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil 

in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

I stopped writing on this blog for many months in late 2012/early 2013. I wasn't sure I was able or willing to put our family's story in the spotlight online. I felt like there was a level of danger.

But I feel compelled to be a voice for change. For truth-telling. Through the Adoption Truth series I'm doing my best for my children and they deserve nothing less than my best.

~A