About Us

When we met 12 years ago, we could have never imagined the wonderful journey we were going to embark on together. Our names are Brandon and Miriam and this is our Adoption Story - An Adventure In Progress.

It began when we were in our early 20s and we happened to meet each other through mutual friends at a restaurant hosting karaoke night. We both enjoyed line-dancing at the time and frequented the local country clubs most weekend nights. We happened to know some of the same people, which resulted in us meeting officially for the first time that night. I (Miriam) still remember thinking that there was something different about Brandon. Something special. I was instantly smitten with him as we talked and was drawn to his sweet demeanor and handsome smile. I became increasingly less excited about our meeting as the evening wore on, due to the fact that I thought Brandon was interested in my friend. Well, we all know how that turned out :). I (Brandon) thought Miriam was something special, not just beautiful on the outside,  but beautiful on the inside. 

Brandon proposed almost 2 years later at a ranch, under the stars, next to the horses in good ol' cowboy-fashion and we got married in the summer of 2004.  Then started the amazing journey of two lives becoming one.....

At the time, children were a far off distant thought. Heck, we always joked that we felt as if we were still teenagers.  A dream tucked away in our hearts for when we were more "grown-up" and ready for the responsibility. It never crossed our minds that our dream might never come true. We were happy and content being just the two of us. We still attended country concerts, car shows, NASCAR races, and lived in the moment.

Although we had fun, there was something missing. We felt a tugging in our hearts for something more than "fun" and life lived in the moment. Something, Someone was calling us to examine our lives through different lenses. That Someone was God. In the Spring of 2005 we began attending church, learning about what it means to be a Christian, who God is, what life is really about. It was that year that we both found our original Love...Jesus. We prayed to receive him as our Lord and Savior and once we did, it felt like we were completely new people. We had a new beginning, with a whole new perspective on Life. We have been followers of Jesus ever since and He has been taking us on new and meaningful adventures. We both Love the Lord and are committed to living life with a purpose, for His glory; not for our self-satisfaction. Now don't get us wrong, we still have our moments of struggling, whether it be personally or in our marriage, but they are fewer and further in-between. He has taken us on a journey in which our marriage has deepened. We feel blessed to have a strong, steady, loving, committed and fun marriage.
 
We have had the amazing opportunity to go on two mission trips, one to Tanzania, Africa, the other to Kenya, Africa. Looking back on the time we spent there, we were both touched by the many children we met, especially the hundreds we met in orphanages. We remember being in Tanzania and wanting to scoop those precious ones into our arms and take them home with us. 

Perhaps adoption would be His way of using us for HIS GLORY....the very thing we committed to when we accepted Him into our hearts so many years earlier, remember? 

Maybe it was then that God began planting a seed in our hearts that would eventually sprout into a desire to one day adopt. That dream of one day having children of our own had been safely tucked away, but as time went by we decided that it was time to try. We had no expectations at first about how soon we would conceive. We figured it would happen in God's perfect timing. So we waited. And waited. And waited. Months turned into years and with each "NO" we felt more of an ache and a worry and a sadness. Brandon was able to stay pretty positive but after six years of our dream left unfulfilled, Miriam began to lose hope.  I (Miriam) doubted my dreams and God's plans for us. Why us? With each baby-shower of a friend celebrating her first and then second child, my heart sank deeper and deeper into a well of sadness. At times it felt as though I were drowning. I felt that if having children was the desire of my heart, and God delights in giving us the desires of our hearts, then God had simply forgotten about me. I needed to know that he had not forgotten. As I called out to Him and he patiently heard me out, I heard Him whisper..."desire ME more." In my quest to accomplish the "dream" that everyone around me was living, I realized that I was selfishly holding on to my dream, without giving God room to work out His plans. There are other ways to build a family! Both Brandon and I began discussing the idea of adoption. After all, adoption is a beautiful thing created by God himself. His Word tells us that we, too are adopted as sons and daughters: "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure" Ephesians 1:5 (NLT).

In late Spring of 2013 we attended an informational meeting at our church about foster care and adoption. It was there that we heard about Bethany Christian Services. After getting a small taste about adoption we decided to get more information.

Once we got the ball rolling, we received so much encouragement from those around us with God opening our eyes and hearts to so many people with an adoption story. I'll be honest and say that while Brandon was ready to go, I still struggled a little with the whole idea. Ok...I struggled a lot! Yet, God worked in my heart slowly and gently, and before long, I too was on board. With excitement and a renewed hope in our hearts we officially started on this amazing adventure. We announced to our family and friends: We are adopting!!!

As we have progressed through this journey, our prayers have changed from "God, bless us with our own child, so we too can have a family," to "God, let your will be done. Bless us with the privilege to raise up children in order that they may bring you glory!!! Amen!"

We don't know what turns this road may take, but we do know it will be a good one. God said so: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).