By Greg and Cherie

We have been abundantly blessed by being able to adopt two beautiful children through Beginnings. Our adoption journey began in January 2004 when we had the privilege of meeting with our social worker, Kerry Vandergrift. It was through Kerry that we were introduced to Beginnings.

In the spring of 2004, we attended Beginnings’ weekend workshop which really opened our eyes to the reality of adoption. As we look back, that weekend was a watershed moment for us. Up until that point, we had struggled with the concept of having an open adoption. It really didn’t make sense to us as to why we needed to have contact with birth parents and families. We felt uncomfortable about how our families would interact and fearful about what this type of relationship would look like.

God really opened our hearts and minds during the retreat as we had time to talk and pray as a couple about considering an open adoption experience. We learned that we needed to take our pride and selfish motives out of the picture and realize how an open adoption would benefit our child! While at the workshop, we enjoyed the opportunity of meeting a “real life” birth mom, child and an adoptive family on the panel and see the bond between them.