Seth & Miriam
Seth & Miriam
It was the worst kayaking experience ever… Seth and Miriam were on their kayaks, Seth’s family were on canoes. We went out on a big lake and then went through some state park canoe trails through some swampland. All was going well until we got back out on the big lake to head back and the wind had picked up and the waves were going against us.
Immediately, Seth and Miriam started paddling like crazy and not looking back for a while, when they realized and looked back they could not see Seth’s younger sister and her friend’s canoe, and could hardly see Seth’s parents and sister’s canoe. Fearing they would never make it back if they tried to go back to them, they kept paddling for their lives, hardly seeming to get anywhere with the strong wind.
Eventually, we completely lost sight of everyone and were getting quite worried. We ended up landing on a beach spot to take a break and considered whether we would have to call the coast guard. Thankfully before too long, we spotted them and they eventually caught back up to us. As it turns out when they got back out on the lake Seth’s sister and friend’s canoe got swept way back because of the wind and Seth’s parents had to go back to help them.
Everyone was very frazzled and grumpy to say the least. Looking back on this memory we all laugh and talk about how awful it was but also the great memories we had. In a lot of ways, this story can relate to hard things we go through in life. Life can give you really hard seemingly impossible situations, but eventually everything ends up turning out alright and you can look back and see the good that came from it, and also what it taught you.
our adoption hopes
| Gender: | A Boy or A Girl |
| Ethnicities: | Any Race and Ethnicity |
| Age: | Newborn to 2 Years Old |
| Total of: | 1 to 3 Children |
a snapshot of us
| We Live In: | Grand Rapids |
| Our Faith: | Christian |
| Pets: | Dog(s) |
| Kids Already: | No Children Now |
| Child Care: | Stay-at-Home Parent |
Our Story
We were introduced by a mutual friend and met at some local truck pulls. Before long we were very interested in each other and started dating. We got married less than a year from when we met, and have been happily married for 5 years now.
Our 6 years together have been spent spending a lot of time with friends and family, a lot of fun trips, getting to know our church family better, growing in our faith, and in our friendship with one another. We are each other’s best friend and we hate to spend much time apart from each other. We started trying to conceive soon after we were married, and couldn’t wait to start a family with children.
That is not what God had planned for us and we have now been struggling with infertility for almost 5 years. This has been very hard for us but we do feel it has brought us closer to God and each other. We feel very blessed to be where we are and pray every day that God will bless us with the opportunity to love and raise a child someday.
Our Relaxation & Fun
We don’t seem to have a whole lot of time to do all the hobbies we like. There always seems to be something that needs to get done around the house, or have plans to go somewhere with family or friend’s. But we do love to travel, go camping, riding our four wheeler, kayaking, have bonfires, and work on house projects. We enjoy spending time with family and friends.
our adoption hopes
Gender: A Boy or A Girl
Ethnicities: Any Race and Ethnicity
Age: Newborn to 2 Years Old
Total of: 1 to 3 Children
a snapshot
of us
We Live In: Grand Rapids
Our Faith: Christian
Pets: Dog(s)
Kids Already: No Children Now
Child Care Plan: Stay-at-Home Parent
Our Family & Friends
We get together frequently with both sides of our family. We get along really well with both sides and feel very blessed to have a great family surrounding us. We both really enjoy spending time with our many nieces and nephews and also babysit at times together.
Miriam has a large family and has been babysitting her nieces and nephews since she was twelve years old. She still enjoys babysitting them when she can. We get together for Holidays, Birthdays, random dinner nights, and sometimes vacation together.
We have close friends that we enjoy spending time with as well. Most of them have started families which has been fun to experience and we can’t wait to be able to join our child / children in the mix. We have them over for dinner, have bonfires, play games with them, and sometimes go on trips with them as well.
Our Home & Neighborhood
It is our desire to cultivate a joy-filled meaningful home life. This means spending time together in meaningful ways whether it be work or play, and also opening our home to fellowship with others. We live in a rural neighborhood with few neighbors. We have met most of them and think they’re all wonderful.
We have a spacious yard and have open fields surrounding our home. We love where we live and have no intention of moving. We plan to continue updating our home and making it more our own with future children in mind. We cannot wait to be able to make our house more of a home with children running around, playing and exploring.
Education
We believe the purpose of education is to instill in your child a love for Jesus, a diligent work ethic, and strong love of learning in academic subjects and life-skills, utilizing the specific learning styles of the child. Education begins in the home, directed by the parents with support and accountability of a Christian community and church.
Correction & Discipline
Discipline is about “discipling” the child, coming alongside and asking them why they chose to misbehave and teaching them what the better choices might have been in that situation. Sometimes, it means giving them a time-out to think about their choices, taking privileges away, or letting them experience the natural consequences of their actions. Discipline is always loving, always encouraging, and always from a heart of grace.
Our Faith Views
We live by faith in Jesus Christ, seeking to honor Him in our daily lives and worshiping Him in a community of believers every Sunday. As Christians, we strive to live graciously, humbly, and diligently with integrity and excellence in every part of life for God’s glory.
Seth's Career
I work full time as an Electrician for a large electrical company. I enjoy working hard and being able to teach others who are just starting out. I work for a great company who treats me well and I feel well taken care of.
I plan to still have my same job and work schedule when we have a child. I will help Miriam care for our child after work and on the weekends.
Miriam's Career
I thoroughly enjoy keeping my home and caring for my husband. I cook, clean, organize, weed, and garden. I babysit during the school year at least one day a week, volunteer doing different things throughout the year, and stay involved with a weekly bible study. I also enjoy spending time with my sisters and nieces and nephews when I can during the week. I still love to do hair for friends and family in some of my free time.
I plan to be a stay at home mom and continue doing most of the things I do now. It is my desire to slow down when we have a child and soak up every moment I can with them.
Seth
I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My father’s family came from the Netherlands, and my mother was adopted. She is part German and part Irish.
We are a Christian family and grew up going to church every week. We enjoy spending time together for the holidays, grilling out, swimming at my parents’ pool, having bonfires, camping, and celebrating Birthdays.
Miriam
I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My ancestors immigrated from the Netherlands in the early 1900s. My parents and siblings value family time, enjoy annual camping trips and holiday gatherings with lots of great food.
Regular and random times of gathering include weekly church attendance, recreational sports, harvesting gardens, and patriotic gatherings throughout the year. We not only gather during times of celebration, but are always there for each other during the difficult and trying times as well.
Thank you for taking the time to look at our profile. We realize this is a very hard and big decision to make. We know that adoption is not the easy way out. But it can very well be the most brave and beautiful choice for you and your baby. The fact that you are here and seeking adoption shows you are very brave and care about your baby very much. We long to love and raise a child as our own.
We will never stop trying to be the best parents our child / children could ever have. We would love to be able to have a relationship with you, and we realize there will always be a connection between you and your baby. Our hearts are open and more than ready for a child to take care of and love, and also to nurture a relationship through open adoption.
- Behavioral and Emotional Needs of Adoptive Children
- Child Separation, Attachment, and Bonding
Our desire for the child placed with us is to have an open relationship with you and that it would be positive and become natural for all involved. Ideally, we would like to be able to set a schedule to meet every month or so with pictures and open communication in between.
We are open to having more of a close-knit family relationship but would never want to over-promise and assume that that will work great with our lifestyles and ideals. Our hearts are open and full of love to give for all involved.
OUR COMFORT LEVEL WITH DIFFERENT ADOPTION OPTIONS
- Very Comfortable
- Mostly Comfortable
- Unsure
- A Bit Uneasy
- Not Comfortable
Our desire for the child placed with us is to have an open relationship with you and that it would be positive and become natural for all involved. Ideally, we would like to be able to set a schedule to meet every month or so with pictures and open communication in between.
We are open to having more of a close-knit family relationship but would never want to over-promise and assume that that will work great with our lifestyles and ideals. Our hearts are open and full of love to give for all involved.
Just one more thing...Our desire for the child placed with us is to have an open relationship with you and that it would be positive and become natural for all involved. Ideally, we would like to be able to set a schedule to meet every month or so with pictures and open communication in between.
We are open to having more of a close-knit family relationship but would never want to over-promise and assume that that will work great with our lifestyles and ideals. Our hearts are open and full of love to give for all involved.