Joel & Renae

Hello from Kansas! We have three boys ages 3, 5, and 7. It is our hope and prayer that we are able to complete our family through adoption. As a family, we really enjoy quality time with each other and our close friends and extended family. We enjoy playing outside in our yard, going to parks, traveling, and hosting. Joel enjoys playing basketball, snow skiing, swimming, and exercising. Renae enjoys crafting, spending time with friends, going for walks, and doing yoga. We’d love to learn about you!

How We Met, Our Journey to Children

We met in 2013 in graduate school while studying to become occupational therapists. We began as friends and shortly after our first official date we decided we wanted to start a life together. We married in 2016 and have since had the joy of raising our three boys Simeon (age 7), Silas (age 5), and Sawyer (age 3). Joel works as a territory sales manager for a medical device company and Renae is an occupational therapist at the children’s hospital part-time (every other weekend). In our free time we enjoy date nights and discovering our city’s best restaurants. We love to drink coffee together on Saturday mornings and go for walks in our neighborhood and on our local trails. We also enjoy researching and planning our next vacation adventures.

Adopting a child has always been on our hearts even before we were married. Due to Joel’s spinal cord injury, we endured years of fertility treatment and intervention to be able to have our three boys. The Lord led us through that entire journey and we never felt alone. We feel the Lord is now calling us to pursue adoption. We look forward to welcoming another child into our lives.

About Joel (by Renae)

I fell in love with Joel pretty quickly after we started spending more time together. Joel is very intentional, disciplined, and loves his family so well. He plays hard with our boys after he works all day. Joel is always looking out for how to love and support us well. Even though Joel uses a wheelchair for his mobility, he is completely independent and goes above and beyond to take care of our home, play with our boys, and provide us with the best life imaginable. I have always appreciated how Joel doesn’t let his spinal cord injury keep him from doing what he loves to do. He loves playing basketball, snow skiing, hiking, fishing, and going to the gym. He finds a way to do it all. We all look up to him and are so encouraged by his perseverance and love for life.

Joel is such an amazing and fun father. He is the best at coming up with creative play schemes, playing sports, coaching t-ball, and planning fun family outings. Joel stays home with the boys on the weekends that Renae works. He always comes up with fun activities and places to visit to fill up the day. It will be such a joy to see Joel with our 4th child. He is a natural at going with the flow. All of our babies have loved riding in Joel’s lap and by some miracle, babies love being rocked to sleep when Joel wheels around in his wheelchair. Joel is excited to add a 4th child to our bedtime story time and family patio hangs. It has been a great joy to parent alongside Joel, and we make a great team.

About Renae (by Joel)

Renae is a no-nonsense, straight-shooter, and she’s never afraid to speak her mind. She’s the perfect mix of salty and sweet, and boy do I love her. She loves her friends and family fiercely, investing in lasting, life-long relationships. In her current chapter of life, she’s an incredible wife, mother and aunt. She’s down for a cozy morning in, playing with the boys and drinking a cup of coffee (often steaming up a cup of steamed milk for the boys with a few sprinkles on top to make them feel special too). But don’t get too cozy because she also needs to be on the move and off to the next adventure with the boys and/or our nieces and nephews. This could be a bike ride around the block, a run to the grocery store, a walk to the park, or in some cases she’s planning an international family trip.

Renae is an extrovert and she sometimes humors me with a quieter schedule. It’s a joy to live life alongside her. In her free time, she enjoys planning outings with her friends, crafting, going for walks, and attending yoga classes. Renae loves the newborn phase and each stage of motherhood. She somehow finds a way to manage and actually love the sleepless nights and around the clock newborn feeds. She understands that every moment is fleeting as our babies grow and she truly soaks up each moment. Renae is excited to take our baby on neighborhood walks, wear them in the baby carrier, and snuggle them all day long. She’s excited to use her occupational therapy education to help our baby eat, grow, and meet milestones. I love her dearly and you will too.

Our Children and Extended Family

Our Children…

Simeon (age 7) is in first grade and is such a great big brother. He loves reading, playing with his brothers and friends, and playing sports. He is our social butterfly who wants his schedule packed with play dates.

Silas (age 5) is our super silly middle child. He is so creative and intelligent. He loves making everyone laugh. He is eager to start kindergarten in the fall.

Sawyer (age 3) is our sweet go-with-the-flow third born. He loves snuggles, but just wants to keep up with the big brothers and their friends.

All three of our boys are eager to gain a new sibling and are already daydreaming of his/her arrival and helping prepare the nursery. They spend a lot of time with their baby cousin and are so excited to have their own baby to love at home.

Extended Family: We are fortunate to live very close to most of our family and close friends. Our children enjoy spending time with their cousins as much as possible. We enjoy spending time with our siblings, parents and grandparents. We have several close family friends with children who we see most weekends. We believe that it truly takes a village to raise a child well, and we fortunately have a very strong village of individuals who love and support our family.

Our Home in Kansas

We live in a sprawling ranch house in the suburbs. Our neighborhood is surrounded by beautiful, large trees. We live on a one-acre lot with a swing set, basketball hoop, tree swing, and a great climbing tree. We spend most of our time on the patio and in the living spaces; however, each of the 5 bedrooms are very cozy. Our baby will have his/her own nursery on the main floor, near our bedroom. We enjoy being within walking distance of our neighborhood park and local cafe/coffee shop.

Our Promise

Not only is adopting a child a deep desire of both of our hearts, but it is also a call from the Lord. It gives us immense comfort that we have strong support from all of our family and friends as we navigate this unique journey. We even have siblings and close friends who have grown their families through adoption. They have all been a great comfort and encouragement to us as we embark on this journey. In raising our children, we have committed to teaching them the gospel, loving them unconditionally, allowing for mistakes and redirection, encouraging their friendships and kindness, helping them to pursue education and creativity, and modeling respect and honesty.

Through our parenting journey over the last seven years, we have realized that it’s no easy task raising tiny humans to be amazing adults. We are trying our best and leaning into the support of our community when advice and encouragement is necessary. When we are chosen to raise another child, we promise to raise that child in the same way. We promise to love our 4th child with our whole hearts. We promise to always keep in touch with you, provide updates, and arrange meetups to whatever level you are comfortable. We promise to always share their adoption story with them. We promise to remind your child where they came from and how loved they are by many. If you feel that we may be a good fit for you and your baby, please contact us to learn more about what makes our family special.

We’d love to talk or answer any of your questions. Please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

In Closing

We are patiently waiting to meet the newest member of our family. Raising our three boys has been our greatest joy! We truly can't wait to add our fourth child to the crew. It is our prayer that we are able to welcome our newest family member as soon as possible. However, we know that God’s timing is perfect. Our desire is for our child to have an open relationship with their birth mother and siblings, if possible. We look forward to teaching our next child all about where they came from and their adoption story. We are praying for you as you consider an adoption plan for your child.

With so much love,
Joel and Renae