Dear Birth Mother,

We are so thankful to you for making the brave decision to give your baby the gift of life—the greatest gift of all. We can only imagine the many feelings and emotions you are facing right now and admire your incredible strength and sacrificial love to make this kind of selfless decision for your baby. We are humbled and thankful that you would consider us as the adoptive family for your baby and hope this profile allows you to get to know us better.

We met in 2005 at a Christian leadership training center and were instantly smitten. We married in the summer of 2007 in Michigan and moved to California to begin our marriage.

About Julie (by Andy): I realize this section is about Julie, but I must start by saying that I feel like the most blessed man in world that God brought Julie into my life. The quality that attracted me most to her was the joy and passion that she has for God that permeates every aspect of her life. Early on in our relationship, we had discussed our mutual desire for Julie to be able to stay home once we had children to love and train them up in the Lord. In the beginning years of marriage, I was able to observe her diligence and commitment to hard work as a soccer journalist and marketing writer. During this time, her passion for motherhood was so evident as she read numerous books and talked about the future joy of raising children. The past two years, we have gone through infertility treatment and come to the realization that a biological child is not God's design for us. In the midst of this, I have been in awe of her unwavering character that has been refined through submission to God's plan for our family.

Just recently, Julie transitioned from her previous position to work as a volunteer within our church, fulfilling a great need for writing and editing content. I have seen clearly how God has equipped Julie for motherhood as she works in our church's preschool ministry as well as mentors a friend's young daughter and teaches her about cooking and baking, which is one of Julie's passions. I get so excited when thinking about the child God has in store for us and the sacrificial love that Julie is going to pour into him/her.

About Andy (by Julie): Andy has been a blessing to me in more ways than I can fully communicate. Early on, I knew that Andy was a man of integrity, kindness and faith, and my admiration of him has only increased throughout our four and a half years of marriage. Even when we were dating, it was clear that Andy would be a wonderful father because of his patience and fun-loving nature, and kids seem to flock to him wherever we go. I find so much joy in imagining the day that Andy becomes the dad God created him to be. Andy also has the heart of a servant, jumping in to help anytime he sees a need, whether it be cleaning dirty dishes or building a wheelchair ramp for an injured friend. I feel so blessed through his strong work ethic and drive to provide for our family as a manager for a biomedical device company (with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and MBA this spring).

About our family: Family is very important to both of us. Our parents live in Michigan and are godly examples to us in marriage and parenting. Julie's parents live on a lake, which provides endless opportunities to relax and have fun as a family. Julie has an older sister (a doctor) and a younger brother (an engineer), both of whom are married.

On Andy's side, he has three brothers. His two older brothers are also married and between them we have two nephews (Nathan and Luke, the boys in the black and white picture) and one niece (Nora) with another niece or nephew on the way in June. We absolutely adore all of them. Nora is the newest addition and joined our family just this September. Family get-togethers are something we treasure with both sides and are always filled with laughs, activity and heartfelt conversations.

Another important member of our family is our dog, Chaz. He is a goofy Border Collie mix with an amazing personality. One of the major reasons we chose him was because the person at the dog rescue told us he was the favorite of all of her grandchildren, and he quickly befriends all of our friends' kids the moment they come through the door.

About our life: Our home has a beautiful backyard that is great for playing and relaxing, as well as a fire pit that is used regularly for s'mores. It is located in a quaint neighborhood with loads of young families. Our neighborhood has nearly a dozen parks within walking distance and miles of trails for walking, biking and running. Our favorite part about where we live, though, is our church. Our church has become our second family, and we are blessed to be surrounded by the love and encouragement of our friends there. On Sundays, we teach the preschoolers at our church and love getting to see God through their young eyes. We enjoy many activities together, like hiking, camping, playing tennis, reading, snowboarding, swimming and playing card games.

Our Promise: Your baby will be raised with unconditional love in a supportive, Christian home, filled with joy and laughter. He/she will know of your incredible strength and love. We welcome talking about openness as we feel that it is important to everyone involved. While you make your decision, you will be in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you again for taking the time to get to know us.

With Grateful Hearts,

Andy and Julie

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