Michael and Ann (Family ID # 2084429)
Ann and Michael
Martinez, Georgia
My husband and I believe adoption makes it possible to unite children with loving, forever families. I personally can't think of a more important cause to my heart. James 1:27 says "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." John 15:12 says "This is my commandment: love each other in the same way I have loved you." As a Christian, God has called us to love one another and take care of one another. It is as simple as that. I feel very called to these two verses when it comes to adoption. My husband and I feel very blessed that we can and are able to adopt a child. We are very excited and honored that God has called us to do this. We can't wait to get our adoption journey started. We have prayed over this decision for several years and feel now is the right time for us to adopt.
My name is Ann and I'm 34 years old. I've been married to my husband Michael for 15 years! We met in high school and got married after my first year of college. I remember before we even got married talking to my husband about adoption, and he was always so supportive about the idea. I graduated school with my BSN in nursing. My husband graduated college with a business degree and shortly after joined the Army. He served in the Army for almost 8 years. We were fortunate enough and feel blessed that we were able to experience life and cultures in different parts of the world while stationed in Hawaii and Germany, and deployed on a one-year tour in Afghanistan. My husband currently works as a government contractor on an Army base in Georgia. I have worked as a nurse in long term care, a family practice clinic, education, and have spent the last 5 years as a burn ICU nurse. I feel so honored to be a nurse. It has truly opened my eyes to complexities of life and has taught me true compassion.
My husband and I had our first (biological) child a little over 2 years ago and his name is Jackson. He is a true joy to us. We love our little boy dearly. I had several medical complications with my pregnancy which were truly scary and even life threatening. We did not have difficulties getting pregnant with our first child and most likely would not have difficulties if we chose to have a second. The medical complications that I had in my first pregnancy would most likely reoccur with a second pregnancy according to my doctor. Although this news was hard to hear, I knew in my heart that God was leading us down the path of adopting to grow our family. Romans 8:28 says "And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose."
Let me tell you about my family starting with my grandparents. My grandparents went to South Korea shortly after the Korean war as missionaries. They saw a great need for orphaned children in Korea and started an orphanage there. They lived there for over 20 years running the orphanage. My grandparents’ one decision to help orphaned children has encouraged and influenced so many of my family members to grow their families through adoption. My dad's sister is an adoption social worker and adopted my cousin Janelle from Haiti. My dad's brother adopted my cousin Lisa from China, and my cousin Josh from South Korea. My cousin Rachel and her husband are foster parents and adopted one of their foster children. I've grown up my entire life with adoption as a part of my family. I have wanted to adopt ever since I can really remember meeting my adopted cousins. I have seen the healing power of adoption and the true blessing an adopted child can be to a family. I have never thought of my adopted cousins actually of being adopted. They are simply my family and I love them dearly. I know we could provide this kind of love to a child that we adopt.
We have been preparing for this adoption seriously for the past 2 years. We have been praying about it and reading numerous books about how to raise an adopted child and care for their special needs. We have been talking to family members who have been through the adoption process and are learning from their wisdom. We have been watching videos online about people who have adopted and their experiences raising an adopted child.
Adoption is very expensive but we know God will provide. We are using adoption bridge to help fund our adoption. The adoption journey is a marathon not a sprint. We are so excited to have started this journey and can not wait to meet our child.
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