Dear Birth Parent(s),

Our names are Christopher and Patricia (but you can call us Chris and PJ.) We'd like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you, but first we'd like to acknowledge what a difficult position you must be in right now. We can not imagine what you are going through as you try to make one of the toughest and most important decisions of your life. We are encouraged, however, that you have chosen to examine adoption as one of the options before you.

We live in northeast Louisiana where it is often sunny and the bayous give beautiful views as you travel around town. Living so close to the water seems to have a calming effect on people, and we really appreciate the tone that sets for our community.

We moved here so that PJ could continue to follow her life's mission of being a hospital chaplain to mothers and babies. Chris has found that working from home is a good option for him in this environment, so he gets to spend a lot of time with our pets while he works.

We attend a local Methodist church that has lots of activities for people of all ages. For example, they have a bonfire every December to celebrate both Christmas and the uniqueness of Cajun culture. There is zydeco music and dancing. They serve gumbo and jambalaya, and they make s'mores. The children have an opportunity to play instruments along with the musician, and since it's a bonfire the local fire department sends out a truck and crew to chaperone. The children really seem to love climbing on the fire truck as much as anything else. In addition to regular worship and family activities, the church runs a daycare center for area families and after-school activities for local children. It's a very vibrant community.

We have been married for 11 years, but it really doesn't seem that it's been that long. In our time together we have been through some heartaches, but we have always known we have each other to lean on when times are tough. We provide strength for each other in our weakness, challenge each other to grow, glory in one another's accomplishments, and add joy as we enrich each other's lives. We are friends first, and that makes being spouses so much more complete.

In our quest to build our family from the two of us to three, we went through fertility treatments for four years. We had many disappointments during that time, and we ultimately came to understand that because of the medical problems we would never be able to have biological children. That did not change our desire to grow our family. In PJ's training to be a chaplain, she realized that God often has much bigger plans for us than we have for ourselves. This is another area of our lives where we believe that to be the case. God's plan for how to make us a family was not limited by biology, but was created to show us how much we can endure, how very caring we are, and how much grander life can be when it doesn't go the way we expected.

Since PJ’s older brother was adopted, it seemed only natural to pursue that same avenue to enlarge our family. Both of our extended families are eager to meet the newest family member, and no one dotes on grandchildren like Chris' parents do. Therefore, we are sure we will have all the support needed to help this child develop into a caring, principled individual who knows they are loved beyond limits.

Rest assured that we will be open and honest with the new little one about how they came to our family. We will answer any questions they have to the best of our ability, and therefore would like to know as much as about yourself as you would be comfortable telling. We would also be open to sending you letters and pictures (and even e-mail) for as long as you want. We feel it's the least we can do to help you remain confident in your decision to let us parent your child.

Thank you for taking the time to review our profile. May God bless you as you decide what to do.

Sincerely,

Chris & PJ