Waiting Families
Barry & Denise
A picture is worth 1,000 words, but we would like to fill you in on the rest. Before we do that we would like to thank you for taking the time to get to know us. We will try to put into words clearly who we are, but know we are honored that you are considering us to be the parents of your child. Our journey to you started in two different countries. Barry was born in Holland, Michigan and is therefore a little Dutch. Denise was born in London, England and is therefore a lot British. We both left our homelands with our own versions of English to teach it to students in Hungary. That is where we met. We then moved to England and were married there, eleven years ago. Shortly after we were married, we moved to Michigan as Barry was offered the job of pastor of the church his parents had been attending. Quite an international journey for both of us, but one place we did not anticipate visiting was the land of infertility, which brings our life journey crossing roads with yours. We believe that God works out all things to His own end although sometimes it is only when you look back that we can see how marvelous His ways are. We saw this work when we decided to adopt and were able to welcome our daughter, Lydia, into our family almost four years ago. Having such a blessed experience with adopting her, we are now hoping to again extend our family through adoption.
The Teacher and the Preacher
Denise is an elementary school teacher in the town where we live, currently teaching kindergarten. Denise is very creative in the classroom. She is a very conscientious worker and always working on ways to make learning more fun for everyone.
Barry is the preacher man. He is also a full time funny man and has a great memory for jokes and loves an audience to share them with. He is very caring and compassionate with the people who come to see him at the church and offers wise and practical counsel to those in need.
Playing with Cars and Guitars
Denise’s interests include music, which she likes to listen to all the time, especially when she is running with our dog. She plays the guitar at church on Sunday and teaches in the younger children’s Sunday school class. Denise’s favorite season is summer and not just because she doesn’t have to work, but it also means she can be outside, playing with Lydia, going to the park, visiting friends for play dates, swimming at the lake, gardening, cycling, walking, traveling, and just enjoying time with family and friends. She also loves to take pictures of her friends and family, frame them, and put them all around our house. Denise is a good friend and always tries to support and care for them in any way she can. She is very thoughtful of them and that is why she enjoys entertaining and making people welcome in our home.
Barry is Mr. Fix-it. His specialty is cars. He repairs, rebuilds, and restores cars for himself and for his friends and family. He worked as a mechanic for many years and still likes to identify and fix the many quirks of many vehicles. He is always willing to help repair cars for folks for free. He has a very generous nature and sees his practical gifts as a way he can bless those without those skills. He also has many household handy man skills. He does electric, plumbing, carpentry, construction, and destruction, but the cleaning he leaves to Denise. Barry sings in the choir at church. He has a great voice and comes from a family of singers. He plays softball and is the pitcher for our church’s softball team.
Sharing the Caring
Denise has the privilege of being home for three months in the summer due to school vacations and because she works in a school just a five-minute bike ride from our home, she can also be home by early afternoon. Due to keeping only morning office hours at the church, which is just across the street, Barry is usually home in the afternoon. He does arrange other meetings to complete his work when Denise is at home in the evenings. This means childcare is only required for a few hours each weekday morning, which Grandma is always delighted to provide. This childcare plan has worked successfully for the past three years with Lydia. Also, being a teacher, Denise is able to take maternity leave and stay at home for the full maternity time allowed.
Living and Laking
We live in the downtown area of a small West Michigan town. We have an old historic home in the historic district, which means we are close to parks, the library, the museum, and the local shops. We have an approved home study on file with Adoption Associates. We also have a home on a lake, which is just a few minutes drive from our house in town. We love to spend time there with our friends playing, swimming, feeding the fish, and boating.
We are grateful to you, more than we can express, that you have taken this time to get to know us, and in doing so, have considered us as a possible family for your child.
Thank you.
Call Adoption Associates, Inc. at 1.800.677.2367, email adopt@planadoption.com, or request a free adoption information packet to learn more about making an adoption plan for your baby.
