I recently had the opportunity to chat with hopeful adoptive parents Rob and Ashley, a military couple who are currently stationed in Japan. When you’re thinking about adoption for your child, you can chat with hopeful adoptive parents before you decide.
Talking to them lets you get to know them and see if they’d be a good fit as parents for your baby. This way, you can feel confident you’re making the best choice.
I asked Rob and Ashley some fun questions that you won’t find in their adoption profile, and I learned that they are an active, well-traveled Christian couple from the Midwest. Rob and Ashley feel God has called them to grow their family and they’re excited to share their lives with another child!
As they put it, “We’ve spent a lot of our married lives trying to explore the world around us. What we enjoy about travel is the people we share the journey with or get to know along the way. Now that we have a daughter and two dogs, we spend most of our days trying to connect after our busy days, whether that’s relaxing with a cup of tea on the couch or playing games together.”
1. What was your first job, and did you like it?
Ashley: I was a janitor at my old elementary school. I enjoyed it because I could just listen to music and work by myself. It was peaceful. I had a sweet ghost buster-type vacuum, and I loved using the mop bucket. The menial, manual tasks have never bothered me.
Rob: I worked at a cancer hospital, filing and retrieving microscope slides. Doctors and researchers would use these slides to investigate and better treat different kinds of cancer. This experience taught me that even the small, not-so-glorious jobs are important to the bigger picture.
2. As parents, what do you want to teach your child?
Faith is the most important thing we want to pass down. A love for God and how to live a life modeled after Jesus’ example will touch all aspects of your life and pour out into those around you.
Perspective is the next characteristic we want to instill, and it is that our children are a part of something bigger than themselves. It’s important to give back to our community, learn about others and their stories, empathize with and serve them, and take care of the world God has entrusted to us.
You can get an even better glimpse into Rob and Ashley’s lives in their video:
3. What is an important life lesson you’ve learned?
Ashley: That God’s opinion is more important than the people and world around me. It’s incredible how different life is when you seek His approval and influence over that of passing acquaintances.
Rob: To always listen to the members of your team. People all have different perspectives, and if you listen to those closest to the problem and bring everyone’s different opinions and ways of thinking together, you’ll almost always end up with a better solution that lasts longer than just doing it by yourself.
4. What is your favorite thing to cook or eat?
The top choice, easily, is breakfast – it’s our favorite meal and favorite food genre!
We even had it at our wedding (think French toast shooters as hors d’oeuvres, breakfast bar for dinner, etc.)! Ashley’s dad taught her to cook eggs and bacon, and it never gets old…for any of us.
Since we both have a sweet tooth, our second choice is Trifle (a layered chocolate dessert). It’s absolutely delicious and a ton of fun to make for the family – you use your hands to smash up the cake, smash Heath bars, and construct all the layers.
We made it on our first date and for our wedding. It’s also nostalgic for Rob since it was passed down from his mom’s side.
5. What is something from your childhood you want to make sure your child gets to experience?
We both have strong, near-magical memories of Christmas time, and we want to share that same joy with our children! We’re working to pass down Christmas traditions such as Advent calendars, cinnamon rolls for breakfast, Turkey a la king for dinner, decorating the tree, putting out model trains, Christmas Eve Church service, the smells and spirit of Christmas, Christmas movies and music, dog sweaters, and making our yard look like an ad for National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation.
Most importantly, we want to instill the joy of giving – presents, your time, your resources – and what it means to others.
Curious to know more about Rob and Ashley?
You can view their adoptive family profile online.
If you’re interested in talking to them as potential adoptive parents to your baby, just text or call Lifetime at
1-800-923-6784 and we can connect you with them.
As the Vice President (VP) of Lifetime Adoption, Heather Featherston holds an MBA and is passionate about working with those facing adoption, pregnancy, and parenting issues. Heather has conducted training for birth parent advocates, spoken to professional groups, and has appeared on television and radio to discuss the multiple aspects of adoption. She has provided one-on-one support to women and hopeful adoptive parents working through adoption decisions.
Since 2002, she has been helping pregnant women and others in crisis to learn more about adoption. Heather also trains and speaks nationwide to pregnancy clinics to effectively meet the needs of women who want to explore adoption for their child. Today, she continues to address the concerns women have about adoption and supports the needs of women who choose adoption for their child.
As a published author of the book Called to Adoption, Featherston loves to see God’s hand at work every day as she helps children and families come together through adoption.