We began dating in high school, but prior to that, we each had a desire to adopt one day. As we entered into marriage we knew that God would lead us to begin the adoption journey at some point. After 8 years of marriage, we had a spontaneous conversation with a caseworker who represented a local adoption agency. This moved us to start the adoption process and two years ago we brought our daughter home. Now we are feeling the calling from God once again to enter into the adoption process and open our home and hearts to another child.
What Brought You Together?
We began hanging out among groups of mutual friends in high school and this developed into us becoming a couple. We left our hometown in Ohio to attend college in Virginia. After college and 5 years of dating we were married in 2008. Our 11 years of marriage has been filled with joy, grace, and lots of fun. There has also been moments of failure, repentance, reconciliation, and a strengthened faith in God.
Our first adoption was a process that grew our faith the most, God consistently showed himself faithful to our journey. God showed himself present in our circumstances and moved through friends, family, and strangers to encourage and partner with us. Adoption has revealed to us a deeper level of God’s love and faithfulness toward his children.
Why Now?
We knew that God would call us into adoption again, and we are simply following that calling in obedience. It was a process over the past year that involved a lot of prayer and patience as we waited for God to give us the green light. We are confident, based on small ways that God has moved us, that we are to pursue a second adoption now.
Adoption has revealed to us a deeper level of God’s love and faithfulness toward his children.
Matt
Matt grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a loyal fan to Ohio Sports. He is a bookworm that has a constant desire to learn new things. He works as an Associate Director at Liberty University in the Office of Residence Life, specifically in the areas of programs and leadership development of student leaders. He is currently in school pursuing a Ph.d in Theology.
Matt’s second language is sarcasm which he discerningly uses to welcome people into our community. Matt loves being a dad and all the activities that come with it. He dabbles in interior design, furniture building, camping, and longs to do an iron man race some day.
Becky
Becky grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and does her best to support Ohio sports. Becky has worked with a local Crisis Pregnancy Center and Big Brothers & Big Sisters. She currently works part time for Rookie’s food truck serving ice cream cookie sandwiches. Though her favorite job is being a stay at home mom with her daughter.
Becky is a free spirit who loves to camp, travel, attend community festivals, and experience quality time with family. She has recently developed a passion for running road races such as the Virginia 4 miler, Matt and Josephine support her by being present at the start and waiting for her at the finishing line.
Josephine
Josephine is a two year old who is full of passion, emotion, and energy. She loves to wrestle, dance, sing, and read books. Right now, Mary Poppins is one of her biggest heroes. Red is her favorite color and being outside is where her spirit thrives. She is excited about becoming a big sister, we expect that she will be a bit of a bossy pants.
Feb
4
Baby has arrived!!!
Baby was born last night around 8PM, Birth Mom and Baby are both doing well!!!
Feb
2
Due Date Delay-Puzzle Fund Raiser
Well, the due date came…and it went. #bossbaby There have been a few false alarms, but all babies come when they want, this one included. So, we wait with cautious excitement. While we wait would you consider thinking and praying for…
-Most important- the baby, who will be effected by this the most.
-A safe and healthy labor & delivery.
-Healthy momma & baby.
-The momma and the huge decisions she will be faced with.
-Us. We don’t know the outcome and we will rejoice no matter what.
-The finances as all monies will be needed approximately 12 days after birth.
While we wait we have launched a
👉🏽👉🏽Puzzle Piece Fundraiser👈🏽👈🏽
Here are the details…
-$10 per puzzle piece.
-Purchase as many or as few as you want.
-We will write your name on your puzzle piece(s) and then display it in our kiddo’s room.
We are so thankful!
Nov
26
Selected for a Placement!!!
We have been selected for a placement!!!
Through this past year we have been going through the adoption process for a second time and it was just this last month that we went on the waiting families list with our agency. About a week after going into the waiting family pool we were notified that we had been selected for a placement by an expectant mom. So as long as nothing changes we will be adopting a little girl that is due to be born at the end of January!!! Please pray for the expectant mother that she would continue to seek the Lord and make the decision that God is directing her to make. Additionally, pray that her and the baby will be healthy and all will go well with the delivery. Pray for Becky and I as we are continuing to fundraise and prepare for the transition to two kiddos. And of course Pray for Josie, she is excited about becoming a big sister but we don’t know how she is going to take the reality of sharing Momma.
Matt, Becky, & Josie
Sep
5
Update…It’s been a bit…
I (Becky) read back over our last post and I chuckled. The post talked about waiting well and how we planned to be on the waiting families list with our agency by June of this year. Well, it’s September and clearly things haven’t gone as planned. However, we aren’t surprised by this and, of course, God isn’t either. There have been job transitions, health issues (don’t worry, everyone is fine), a pandemic, parenting a very active 3 year old, and just normal life stuff. In the midst of all of that, it is by the grace of God, that we have waited well so far. I can’t say that we necessarily waited horribly during our other adoption journey or that we have arrived at some spiritual maturity of sorts now because of those hardships. What I CAN say is that the hardships from our first adoption journey weren’t wasted on us. Those hardships strengthened our faith and trust in the Lord tremendously. So here we are today weathering the storms as gracefully as we can right now because of the hardness from before. With that said we are happy to share with you that…
OUR HOME STUDY IS COMPLETE!!!
We aren’t on the waiting families list yet, BUT it will happen. Please join us in prayer…
We complete our adoption profile efficiently.
We continue to wait well.
We will continue to fundraise and now apply for adoption grants.
Regarding fundraising- We are doing a virtual makers market. Head on over to Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MakersMarket4ShortAdoption) or Instagram and check out Makers Market 4 Short Adoption. Many great items created by friends and family. All proceeds from items go straight to our adoption fees.
Thank you for following along and for your support!
-MB&J
Jan
12
God is with us as He said, and He will do as he promised.
Genesis 21:1 “The Lord came to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised.”
This passage is a simple but deeply powerful reminder of God’s faithfulness toward his children and the reality that following God’s direction can require a good deal of waiting. It caused me to reflect on our adoption journey and it brought memories of how God was present with us and provided for us in the adoption of our daughter. The memories of God’s faithfulness are what continue to fuel the hope in our present adoption journey as we are waiting for the process to come to fruition and we bring our next child home.
In the adoption of our daughter we had to learn how to wait well. Recognizing our lack of control over the circumstances, we had to process through many frustrations while also being intentional to celebrate the moments where God showed himself faithful in the process.
In the practice of waiting we were intentional to share the frustrations and celebrations of our adoption journey. A few examples that we can share include; while fundraising for our first adoption we had the unfortunate experience of a $4,000 car repair and a $2,500 medical bill in the same week. To add to the frustration, It was not long after that Becky was let go from her job. These were moments that we honestly said, “we are not okay.”
However, with those moments of frustration there were many other moments of celebration where God provided in moments of need. For example, we were $200 short of our deposit with the adoption agency and a Professor of Matt’s (not knowing the financial need) gave us $200 because “God told me to give this to you.” A similar moment happened on our placement day when we were short $500 for the remaining balance and we received a $500 donation 20 minutes before we needed to pay it.
These are the stories, the frustrating and the celebratory, that we are retelling ourselves as we are waiting and hoping through our current adoption journey. We know that God is faithful, that he is with us as he said, and he will do as he promised.
Update on the current adoption process: (We had our first home study meeting this past Friday. All went well and we are on schedule to go on the waiting families list this June)
Matt, Becky, and Josephine
Dec
4
Home Study Update…
Hi!
We hope you are yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are thankful for you and your kindness, generosity, prayers, and encouragement- it truly means so much to us! Speaking of Thanksgiving, if you follow us on social media you may have seen the launch of a fundraiser on behalf of our adoption journey right around Thanksgiving time. I hinted at this kind gesture in our last update, so here are the details…
Our dear friend at Nomad Coffee Co. collaborated with 938 Coffee Co. to create a fundraiser on behalf of our adoption journey.
When you purchase a pound of coffee- 100% goes to our adoption journey. $16 (+ tax and shipping, if not local) per pound. http://www.drinknomadcoffee.com/fundraisers/galatians-44-blend
The goal of this fundraiser is to raise the funds for our Home Study ($1,600) by January 1st.
We have met new people and have seen old friends, all because of this fundraiser. And you know what has happened because of you and this fundraiser…
**OUR GOAL HAS BEEN MET! Our Home Study is covered!**
Thank YOU! We are beyond excited!! So, what about the fundraiser? It will continue until January 1stand the financial gifts we receive from now on will go towards the $3,000 fee to be added to our agency’s list of waiting families (a group of prospective adoptive families waiting to adopt). Also, to remind you of our other fundraising opportunity- Our sweet friend Tabitha Read who is a virtual bookkeeper is running a promotion on our behalf. If you would like more information please reach out to me or check out our social media.
Much love & God Bless,
-Matt, Becky, & JoJo
Nov
20
Update…
Hello there!
It has been 1 week since we publically announced that we have started the adoption process. During this past week many have reached out and have encouraged us, have prayed/are praying for us, have offered their services to help raise funds, and have given generously financially. Thank you so very much! We truly couldn’t do this without your love and support.
As we hear from friends and family many have asked about details, a timeline, and deadlines. Honestly, we are in the beginning stages so there isn’t a ton to report. Here is what we know…
We need to raise $1,600 for the home study (a basic overview of our life). Our goal date to have the funds is January 1st.
Once our home study is complete we will need $3,000 to be added to our agency’s list of waiting families (a group of prospective adoptive families waiting to adopt). Our goal date to have the funds is June 7th.
While we are working towards completing our home study paper work, we are also collaborating with our kind and generous friends to help fundraise…
Our sweet friend Tabitha Read who is a virtual bookkeeper, a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and owner of Small Business Bookkeeping is running a promotion on our behalf. If you would like more information please reach out to me or check out our social media.
Keep your eyes peeled this weekend for another fundraising opportunity on our behalf. We have bean percolating on it, to make sure we get it just right. (yep, dropping hints!)
Prayer is vital. Will you partner with us and take a few minutes every Friday and pray for us, our future child, & his/her birthparents and share our story?
