Welcome to our website. We are the Venema family. Currently, our family consists of Becky (mom), Todd (dad), daughters Sofia and Molly, and son Peter. We also have a dog, cat, hamster and an African albino frog. However, we are in the process of adding to our family by adopting a little boy from China. The decision to do this was a long, drawn out affair - about 11 years long! Todd started mentioning adoption before we were even engaged. I, however, wanted to start out the traditional way and have "my own" kids. After our youngest was born, I still had the baby-bug. I really did want to have another child, but I really did NOT want to be pregnant again. Right about this time, we had several friends adopt children - both domestically and internationally. Suddenly, the idea of adopting started to creep into MY mind.
During the summer of 2005, we packed up our house and made a cross-country move. The first Sunday in our new town found us visiting a local church. The sermon for the day was actually a presentation by a group of folks from the church who had just returned from a mission trip to the western regions of China. They had visited several orphanages, and they had many awesome
stories to tell. It was during our minister's wife's presentation that I had one of those light bulb moments. I really felt like adoption was something I was meant to do. I had several more of those light bulb moments over the next few months. Luckily, Todd was having them, too! It all finally culminated in us applying to A Helping Hand Adoption Agency in Lexington, KY. Todd and I both kind of wanted to adopt a little boy, and we realized that odds were huge that we would get a little girl from China. However, we went ahead and applied to the China program knowing that God was leading us in our decision.
stories to tell. It was during our minister's wife's presentation that I had one of those light bulb moments. I really felt like adoption was something I was meant to do. I had several more of those light bulb moments over the next few months. Luckily, Todd was having them, too! It all finally culminated in us applying to A Helping Hand Adoption Agency in Lexington, KY. Todd and I both kind of wanted to adopt a little boy, and we realized that odds were huge that we would get a little girl from China. However, we went ahead and applied to the China program knowing that God was leading us in our decision. 
