Our Story of Salvation and Sanctification

I was raised in a family that is extremely dysfunctional but full of lots and lots of love.  I went to a revival with a friend and was saved when I was in 10^th grade.  From that point I desired to read scripture and pray; however, I cared far too much about what people thought of me and lived my life to please others and fit in with the crowd which led to a lot of guilt.

Josh also came from a loving family.  His mother made sure that he was in church, which gave him a basic understanding of the bible.  He would say that looking back, his hope was based upon how good of a person he was.  On the outside he made sure that he always presented himself in the best possible light, but he too struggled with issues only he knew about.  Basically, he had hoped that his good works would outweigh his sin.

Josh and I met and began dating the first month of our freshman year at college.  We struggled in many ways but were blessed to have several solid believers pouring into us and challenging us to grow in our faith.  Towards the end of our sophomore year God changed Josh’s heart and opened his eyes to see that our relationship needed to end because it was built on a poor foundation.  Although this was an extremely hard season emotionally, we both grew tremendously in our relationships with the Lord.  For the first time, I understood my identity in Christ and I began to care more about people and less about what they thought of me.  Josh grew in his passion to serve the Lord with a genuine heart and to be vulnerable with other men with would hold him accountable to walk in righteousness.

Spring formal our freshman year of college (2001).

The following school year we began developing a friendship.   Things were so different and it was amazing to see how God had completely transformed one another in our time apart.   Our junior year of college we delighted in the joy and contentment we both found in Christ.  The next summer, when I returned from my study abroad trip in Asia, Josh picked me up from the airport and made it known that he wanted to marry me.   Because of an experience I had in Burma I was convinced that one day I was called to adopt from Asia.  After discussing this (and obviously many other things) we got engaged in December of 2003.

We married in July of 2004 and enjoyed serving the Lord as a couple.  Three years later we began trying to get pregnant.  A little over a year went by.  My doctors ran a lot of tests and put me on several different medications.  Eventually we were referred to a fertility specialist.  At one point we were told that we could never have children.  This deepened our desire to adopt; yet, we did not feel like it was quite the time to begin the process.  Soon, the doctors were able to diagnosis what was preventing us from getting pregnant and with daily injections that Josh gave me, we got pregnant with our adorable daughter Addilyn.  When she was just five months old we found out we were pregnant with our second child, our incredible son, Josiah.  Now, several years later we are ready… ready to pursue the path of adoption and bringing home our next little one from China.

Our kids first trip to the beach.  May 2013