1. Tell us about your family.

We met in Boston while both working at our favorite coffee shop! After many moves, we landed in small town Minnesota where Danielle is originally from. We have one living child and seven in heaven. We have a small farmstead where we raise almost everything we eat. Austin is the foreman for a construction company and a hobby mechanic. Danielle is a yoga instructor. Together we love to ride snowmobiles, build and race Baja cars, tend to our farm, lead worship at our church, and attend our son's hockey practices and games.

2. Tell us more about your heart for adoption. 

We have both always had a heart for children. We married young and wanted to start our family just as young. We were overjoyed to have our son at 23 and 24. We began trying to grow our family further when he was just 9 months old. Thus began a year and a half of miscarriage after miscarriage... Our son is our only living of the eight children I have carried. Even with preventative measures in place, I continued to get pregnant, never carrying past 8.5 weeks.

With each miscarriage, I bled longer. In my last pregnancy, with twins I lost at 6.5 and 8 weeks, I had 68 days of consistent heavy bleeding, lightheadedness, and blood loss anemia, which effected every facet of my day to day life. Towards the end of physical healing from my last pregnancy, I attended a Christian Women's Conference where Holt International was promoted. The speaker pulled the heartstrings of everyone in the room. He prayed for those who were hurting from things the world couldn't see. I remember falling to my knees in tears, surrounded by strangers, a few of whom rushed to hold me on the ground. I couldn't imagine why we had to go through so much loss, so much pain, and so much of a physical toll on my body.

The next thing I remember is something being put in my hand. I asked what it was, and the woman holding me said "your packet." The speaker had asked anyone who wanted to sponsor a child through Holt International raise their hand. Apparently, the Holy Spirit told me to raise my hand, even though I wasn't at all aware of what was happening in the room.

I opened the packet and saw her. A little girl from the Philippines.

The first line in this packet that caught my eye was tiny print in the middle of the page. "No family has been found for (this child), so the decision has been made to find her a permanent adoptive family."

The light bulb moment was here. I was overcome with so much peace. I knew the Lord had put this little girl’s packet in my hand and had orchestrated all things to get me to that place on that day. We were new to the state, new to our church, and I didn’t want to go to the conference initially, because I didn’t know anyone there. I felt a “God nudge” to go, and my husband encouraged me to do so.

I don’t think I stopped crying except to sleep. I cried the entire three hour drive home. I cried as I ran in the house to tell my husband, “This is it. This is why.” The big question we had been asking ourselves since the first baby we lost… She is why.

That was my 25th birthday. I was so singularly focused on sharing this with my husband that I didn’t even notice the decorations around the house, the berry pie sitting on the counter, or the balloons I ran through on the floor to get to the room he was in.

We reached out to Holt immediately, asking what next steps we should take. They informed us we were too young at 25 and 26 years old, and to reach out again when I was 27. We had just purchased our farm days before, so we spent the next two years renovating the house, which was greatly needed, and made sure to include everything we would need to accommodate another child and to pass a home study.

We faithfully sponsored this child for two years, and reached out again on my 27th birthday in October of 2023. They informed us the Philippines were still hoping to find a local family to adopt her, and that she had not yet been made available for international adoption. With sunken hearts, we waited. We still both felt this was our child. The following spring, on our son’s 4th birthday, we received our regular sponsorship update. A had been made available for international adoption! We again reached out right away, and received the go-ahead to begin the application process in June of 2024.

We have continued faithfully sponsoring this child for four years now, always in prayer that she will find her family, and that we are that family. As of August 2025, we have first committee approval for her! We are only waiting on an official match from second committee, which our social worker anticipates that will be sometime this month!

3. Tell us more about your adoption journey so far.

We anticipate only about 6-8 months left until we bring our child home!

Prayer Requests:

We ask for prayer for strength in parenting, for the ability to guide our children well through new transitions and changes, and for next steps to move swiftly without government hangups or delays. We ask for safety in travel, for health all around, and for God's grace and provision over our lives.

We will be donating $1 from every bag of coffee sold this month to the William's Connected Hearts Ministry fund and we'd love for YOU to partner with this family to adopt their precious child! You can donate directly to them through their Connected Hearts Ministry link, where 100% of the donation will be used for adoption-related expenses: https://give.connectedheartsministry.org/campaign/williams-family-adoption-fund/c738747