Hello! It’s us, Barry and Megan! Thank you for taking time to learn more about our story and who we are as a family. We cannot wait to get to know YOU! We already have so much respect for you and often wonder what interests you have, what makes you laugh, and what goals you have in life! We understand this may be a very difficult decision and we pray you find clarity and peace with the direction God leads you.
Our love story began in 2008 at the Christian high school we both attended. What started as freshman Megan crushing on the upperclassman Barry, quickly became a friendship through seeing each other at basketball games. It also led to an official dating relationship on Valentine’s Day 2009! We continued to date as Barry went off to college in Iowa and Megan stayed for college in Michigan. Long-distance dating taught us great communication skills with one another! Once Barry graduated college in 2014 with a youth ministry degree, he moved back to where we grew up and proposed. We said “I do” in July 2015!
In the beginning of 2019, God nudged us towards adoption. It was something we had always chatted about before marriage and wanted to be part of our story. We started the adoption process and were surprised early on in the journey- we were pregnant! We put our adoption journey on hold as we welcomed our daughter, Brynlee Mae, into this world in January 2020. The desire to adopt has not left our hearts and we are excited to grow our family this way!
When I first met Meg, I was drawn to her maturity and heart for God. It also helped that I thought she was very pretty. Megan has always been passionate about having intentional relationships which has helped grow our marriage! Megan loves going on adventures and spending quality time with me. She is all I could ask for in a wife and more! She encourages me and is always loving and supporting me. I am blessed to have her as my wife.
Megan is an amazing mom to Brynlee. She is selfless and a great encourager. One thing I absolutely adore about Megan is that she is a lifelong learner, specifically in the way she parents Brynlee. She is always seeking to understand Brynlee, even as a toddler. Megan is kind, loving and she serves Brynlee and our family so well.
She loves to hear people’s stories to be able to better understand and love people well. Megan does this with our family and through her online health and wellness business, helping others feel their best. She is constantly helping coach and guide others to healthier living and into personal freedom!
Adoption has been on Megan’s heart for years and I can’t wait to see her love and care for our future children with the same intentionality she does with Brynlee.
When I first saw Barry, I thought he was super cute and kind. I could tell he was caring by how he talked to others in the hallways and with his teammates on the football field. Before I started dating him, I had heard about Barry’s reputation – he was a man of integrity and loved Jesus. I didn’t know I could love anyone so much, let alone be married to him! I love being married to my best friend and going through new experiences with him. Our personalities are so similar, yet when challenging or stressful moments happen, Barry is the one who remains calm and level-headed through it all.
Ever since Barry became a dad to Brynlee, it was like he knew what he was doing (after learning a thing or two about changing diapers!) and was the most supportive husband through one of the biggest changes of our lives—becoming parents. He was quick to care for Brynlee’s needs from birth and continues to do so almost two years later! I love watching him play with her, take her on bike rides, and bring her along to high school football practice.
He is a husband who is intentional with his time, very easy-going, kind and playful. He is faithful, truly trustworthy, honest, and humble. Those characteristics have all carried over into how he parents. I cannot wait to see him continue leading and loving on the children God brings into our family!
Bold, generous, determined, passionate, energetic, and SO goofy are some words to describe this toddler. She is sweet and likes to cuddle but often is on the move wanting to jump, dance, sing, scream, or run around and explore. She loves chocolate, pancakes, donuts, ice cream, and smoothies (thankfully there are some veggies and fruit in those!). Every time she sees a little baby, she goes into big sister mode and her gentle side comes out. Her “baby dollies” and stuffed bears get lots of love daily and she will be ready to love on any little sibling that joins her!
Some of the things Bryn loves:
In 2016, Megan’s parents were going through a tough divorce and we felt God calling us to move back in with Megan’s mom and youngest sister. We packed up and moved into the basement of Megan’s childhood home.
We felt we needed to be closer to the community where Barry was working as a youth worker with high school students. In 2018, we built a home together with Megan’s mom. Building a home was never something we had dreamed of but was very clearly guided by God!
Our home has six bedrooms and three floors. We love having a large open kitchen, dining area and living room that flow together to create opportunities for conversations and hosting friends and family.
One of the big reasons for building this home with extra space was that we were trusting Jesus would fill it with people who needed a home for a short or long time, or new children the Lord would bless us with (through birth or adoption).
An awesome part of our neighborhood is how friendly, kind, and generous the people are. There are several young families and the kids are always outside playing together—whether it’s sledding down the hill in our backyard or biking on the sidewalks.
We live in a smaller city that is about 20 minutes from a very large West Michigan city and about 30 minutes from the beaches on Lake Michigan! We love having family so close by (even being housemates with some of them) for support, easy access to child care, and celebrating holidays together!
You know that saying, “It takes a village to raise a child?” Well, that’s how we feel when it comes to our families! Both of us grew up with lots of family around—from camping trips, to weekend dinners with cousins, to family barbecues at the pool or having grandparents attending our sporting events…we both had lots of relatives around!
We are still surrounded by family. We see Barry’s family about once a week. Barry’s mom also watches Brynlee one day each week. We get together with his extended family for holidays and occasional big birthday parties! Barry is the second of four adult children. All of his siblings are married and one future cousin for Brynlee is on the way!
We have lived with Megan’s mom and youngest sister for the past five years. We also have a refugee foster sister from Nigeria who has been part of our family for the past three years and lives with us! A family friend also currently lives with us as she finishes up her college degree at a local college.
Megan is the oldest of three girls. Her middle sister and her husband live in Florida so we see them a couple times a year when they visit or if we take a trip to the warm weather in the middle of cold Michigan winters! We love the communal household we are a part of. Any children that join our family will be cared for and loved on by the family and friends that live with us or visit often!
We love spending time together—sometimes just as a married couple, other times with Brynlee, and occasionally with our whole household when our schedules line up!
Our marriage is very important to us. It is a stable and healthy foundation in our life that is focused on Jesus and intentionally caring for one another’s needs. We try to go on a couple of dates each month. Sometimes it looks like a kid-free dinner date or going on a drive together while Brynlee naps in the car. Barry has occasional mountain bike races throughout the year that we use as a good reason to get away with just the two of us for a night or two. We always come back refreshed and so thankful for one another!
We love to go on family bike rides on local trails with Brynlee. When the local ice cream shop is open, our entire household may end up biking there together after dinner! We occasionally will have family game nights and play Settlers of Catan or a card game or cook together and share a meal.
Some of Barry’s individual interests include:
Some of Megan’s individual interests include:
One of our favorite family traditions each year is the camping trip we take up north in Michigan. Our entire household goes with Barry’s family and cousins. We love playing cornhole, relaxing at the beach, playing in the water, or biking to ice cream (do you see a trend with ice cream and biking?!).
Thanksgiving involves a fun tradition of bowling with some of Megan’s aunts, uncles, cousins and grandma after a large meal!
During Christmas, we LOVE getting together with Barry’s parents and siblings to have our annual party full of amazing food and lots of presents! We also love to decorate our home for the holidays. Megan’s mom and sister are creative, so they start with the Christmas tree (yes it’s a fake one!), and lights and garland while Megan bakes a yummy dessert for us to share before a movie night together!
We love how many fun traditions we already have and are excited to create new ones with our family as Brynlee and future kiddos grow up together!
Thank you for taking the time to learn about our family. Thank you for bringing a beautiful baby into this world! You are brave. Your story matters.
If you choose us as adoptive parents, we would love to have a relationship with you that you feel comfortable with, if that’s your desire!
Regardless of the level of openness you prefer, please know we promise to raise your child to know the important role you play in their life being the first momma that carried them into this world and chose to consider an adoption plan!
THANK YOU doesn’t even come close to how much gratitude we feel towards you. Whether or not we’re able to meet you in person, we want you to know that God has incredible plans for you and your future. If you choose us, we promise to raise your child to know how much Jesus loves them, how special they are, and the unique talents they have to bless others they encounter! We also promise to provide opportunities for them to do the things they are passionate about!
We are praying for you and your little babe! Again, we are so excited to get to know you and see how our stories come together.
Hugs and prayers for you,
Barry, Megan, Brynlee, and the rest of our crew!
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