join us....

Dear Sweet Friends and Family,

You have walked a long journey with us the past four years in our suffering and grief in the loss and absence of our precious Sydney Grace. You covered us in prayer as we lost a sweet baby a year later. You waited anxiously in prayer with us and rejoiced with us at the hopeful birth of our Henry Adam two years ago.

Now, we invite you all to celebrate in God's goodness and faithfulness in His call for us in Adoption!

We would covet your prayers, once again, as we grow our family again.

For some time, adoption has been on our hearts as a possibility and a prayer, mine more passionately than Ian's but praying in God's time, that we would BOTH be ready...

Last October 23rd, Henry's 2nd birthday in fact, Ian and I heard a message at church that sealed his heart for this new journey for sure. Ian shared with me immediately following the sermon that our family was INDEED called to adoption, to care for the orphans in their distress and grow our family in the sweet gospel image of adoption. We feel called that a little girl out there somewhere will soon be our daughter and we have decided to pursue her, where ever she may be. Our original desire is to keep in the birth order and bring home a child younger than both Liam and Henry but we are also open to God's redirecting and guidance should that take place in bringing home a child in between both their ages.

We began the adoption process in November with an application to our local agency here and have finally completed our paperwork for our home study, which consists of months long processes of fingerprinting and background checks and mountains and mountains of paperwork, records and important personal documents, including a home family interview and inspection of our home. To help finance our adoption, we will fundraise and also have access to our church's ABBA adoption fund and many scholarships and grants and other funding to help fund our adoption, Lord willing, but only once our home study is completed and approved. To ultimately complete our home study, we must also pay a home study fee, that which we do not have currently. Although we did turn in all of our paper work today (yay), we need the funds to schedule our 2 home visits as soon as possible. I wish adoption wasn't so costly, but ultimately our own adoption by God was so costly, so it makes sense in a way that earthly adoption might be as well...That being said, we have no idea how these finances will be provided, but have already seen the hand of God leading us here so we trust that He will provide.....




We ask you to pray with us that the Lord would graciously and mercifully provide this monetary support so that we could get to the next step of applying for the ABBA fund, scholarships and funding that is available to us, allowing us to move forward and begin the leg work needed for the next chapter of this process! We ask for prayer against discouragement and unbelief in the financial challenges adoption presents...as we remember and believe that He who has called, He will equip! We know that He is ever able and creative and provides in ways we cannot even dream or fathom. He is so good and faithful!

We also have been led to put our house on the market as we need more space for our growing family. We found a LOVELY adorable house that is a God send, more space and a huge yard for the kids and would be the same we pay each month now anyway and we love it! We've even prayed in it's kitchen on our third visit to see it and drove by one night in the car to pray over it again.. and it's such a GOD story how it all worked itself out that we found it, but it's an older and lived in home and perfect for our family and Ian, who could do so much work and restoration in it with love. BUT we must sell our tiny house first OR come up with a down payment and rent our own house out instead....SO we definitely NEED your prayers for this house to sell quickly so that we can move forward with the other. It is such a time of waiting and unknown but such a great time of testing and stretching too. And we DO trust that whatever happens is God's will for our family too...house or no house. Money or no money. Just moving our feet as we feel called and see what happens!!

We are so thankful for your joining us in the many chapters of our lives in the past, especially the last four years that have proven challenging and aching. We are grateful for so so many of you and many of you that share in the partnership in Christ and as you pray for us and for our family , we pray that you would be blessed through this adoption picture and find yourself ever thankful and joyful to a God that has adopted you into His eternal family first. Please pray for provision, for patience and joyful long suffering in the waiting, for our boy's hearts in preparation of a new sibling, for a sweet picture of the gospel to unfold before their very eyes as we pursue God's heart before them. We beg for you to pray for our daughter, whom ever she might be, where ever she might be, waiting to be born or already here. We ask that you pray for her birth parents as they have a daunting choice in giving up their child, to lose a child no matter the circumstances, is always painful, if not now, then later...We pray that God would meet them all in their distress and pursue them and love them and show Himself to them in their great time of need.

Finally, we pray, that throughout this whole process, that God would receive all the Glory due to Him as we pursue His heart, trust in Him and look to Him for provision and guidance, sustaining support amidst the waiting and unknowns that are before us and that HE would be shown BIG and Mighty and powerful as we all watch as He orchestrates His creative ways and marvelous care to bring another fatherless child into a home that is waiting with love.....

Thank you for your continued prayers and support and love! We would be nothing without Christ and His body of believers that join us in this Joy!

Blessings and Hope,
Ian and Alyssa

with Liam and Henry
And ever thankful for our Sydney Grace