Monday, February 21, 2011

Let's start at the very beginning...

First off, please let me thank you for taking the time to view our site and read our story. Jeremiah and I appreciate all the love and support we’ve received and are continually receiving from our friends and family. You all mean so much to us!
I was diagnosed with MRKH syndrome when I was 19. I have known since then that I would not be able to have biological children unless I wanted to use a surrogate mother. As much as we would love to see what our children would look like God has definitely laid it on our hearts to pursue adopting.  We know that there are thousands of children out there who need a home and though we may not be able to offer a child the biggest and most beautiful one… we will certainly give them the most loving, caring and supportive one we can.
Jeremiah and I met at a small group in August of 2006. We are opposites in almost every way so I guess the saying “opposites attract” holds true in our relationship. We were definitely attracted to each other in that first month that we met.  I had a very outgoing personality and Jeremiah had cute eyebrows.  What can I say? A match made in heaven. ;) It wasn’t until November of that same year that our friend Jarrod Pitts connivingly got us to admit that we liked each other.
I told Jeremiah about my condition on one of our first dates. I found a hair in my food and I figured things couldn’t get any worse so why not tell him? I felt like it would probably be one of the most awkward conversations I would ever have in my life but it wasn’t. Jeremiah was very compassionate and encouraging.  I always knew that God would bring the right person into my life that would be able to support and love me the way I am. I am very thankful that Jeremiah was that person.  It might have taken him breaking up with me once and me breaking up with him a second time to realize this… but that's neither here nor there. ;) Needless to say we were happily married on September 19th of 2009.
Jeremiah is currently a document writer at Hollister Stier Laboratories. He is taking classes online through Kaplan University to finish his degree in health sciences. He would like to eventually work in the lab at Hollister Stier.
I am in the process of starting a photography business. It's been a hobby of mine for a long time and just recently I've decided to make it more than that. You can see some of my work on my photography
blog. I am also a part time nanny and I teach a music class at Westgate Christian school one day a week. And because that doesn't keep me busy enough... I also teach a step aerobics class at Spokane fitness center.
Until recently I’ve been thinking it would be 4-5 years before we started the adoption process. I knew it was going to be expensive and Jeremiah and I have been planning on saving up the amount beforehand.  I attend Northside Church of Christ here in Spokane Washington. Several months ago I was going to a ladies class on Sunday mornings led by my friend Laura Beth on motherhood. We were going through a book called Mothers of the Bible. I’m not a mother but I thought it would be a good way for me to get to know some of the other ladies in the church… and there’s no better way to get to know a woman than listening to them talk about their kids. ;) The very first class each lady was supposed to tell everyone a little bit about themselves and tell their greatest blessing of being a mother and their greatest trial. Now obviously I didn’t have anything to share about the blessings and trials of motherhood… but I felt compelled to open up to the ladies and tell them about my situation. There was so much love and support in that class and I don’t think any of those ladies will ever know how much that encouraged me. Several of the ladies approached me in the next couple weeks expressing their desire to get a fund started to help with our adoption. I was so humbled and just in awe of how God was working and is still working in our lives to make this a reality.
Jeremiah and I started doing research on adoption agencies and tried to get as much information we could. So far I had dismissed fostering. When I thought of fostering I automatically pictured having a child I was attached to taken away from me… And just thinking about that happening breaks my heart. I know I wouldn’t be able to handle that. After reading on the DSHS site it has changed the way I think about it. At this point Jeremiah and I are pretty sure we are going to pursue being foster parents in hopes of being able to adopt the child(ren) when that opportunity becomes available. I still have questions about fostering though and I am going to get together with a family friend this Saturday who has adopted several children through foster system. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot and that’s what I’m hoping for. J
Jeremiah picked up a pamphlet from DSHS on Friday which had some good information in it. I am going to try to attend their foster family orientation on March 1st. I will definitely blog about that and let you know how that goes.
We hope that by this blog you’re able to follow along with our story and become part of our family. We are very excited to see what God is going to do in our lives and would love for you all to be a part of it. J If you have any questions for Jeremiah and I please feel free to ask in the comments or email us at mopeds4ever@yahoo.com.
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers!
God Bless,
The DuPey Family

5 comments:

  1. Love you both and praying that God will bless you with the perfect little person/s! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that you are willing to share your story Danielle. Any child will be blessed if brought into your and Jeremiah's home. Prayers are being sent up for you from the Mullen household.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The average cost of an adoption in the United States is between $15,000 and $30,000. Alex & Amanda Thompson and Dean & Kim Crews are working together to help Jeremiah & Danielle the raise funds needed to adopt a child. We’re suggesting you consider helping us launch our fund raising efforts by contributing at least 10% of your 2010 tax refund. Its estimated that the average refund check for a family in the US will be about $3,000 this year. Can you imagine what a great start we would have if several families contributed just 10% of their refund? Would you like to be a part of this? Checks can be made payable to Jeremiah or Danielle DuPey and mailed to the Northside Church of Christ at 5601 N. Jefferson Street Spokane, WA 99205. A dedicated savings account has been established for the adoption fund. We’re hoping this launch will give us a great start to reaching our goal of $20,000 in 12 months.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I neglected to say that any amount will be accepted for this effort! Our intention is not to tell you how much to contribute- we're simply asking you to consider contributing to this effort. -Kim

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello,
    You don't know me, but Jer does. My husband worked for Northside for awhile. We were blessed by two adoption while there. Northside funded most of our first adoption! Our second adoption was through foster care. I would be happy to answer any questions you have as well as hook you up with some amazing foster/adopt families in your area.

    You may visit my blog to read our adoption story. Although, I planned on deleting it next week. I might consider making it private and allwoing you to read it that way, if you like. Otherwise, just email me with questions.

    God bless you and Jeremiah! You are a blessed lady. Jeremiah is a good man. (In fact, my oldest son wanted to marry him when he was little. LOL.)

    Tereasa
    senorita.in.canada@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete