Christian Homes And Special Kids

Home

Contact us!

Donate to CHASK

How CHASK Works

For Adopting Parents

For Birth Parents

View Waiting Families

Adoption Resources

CHASK Flyers

Waiting Children  

Statement of Faith

Current Needs

David and Mary Billman, Ohio

Our Family…

We are a Christian, interracial adoptive family. David is 44 years old, owns his own business, and works as a subcontractor.  Mary is 38, a stay-at-home mom, who was adopted as a toddler. We are a Christian adoptive family and have 8 wonderful children. Only six still reside at home as one (18 years old) is in college and the other (20 years old) rents a house close to his employment. The six at home are ages 15, 7, 6, 5, 5, and 1.

 David and I both believe in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven. We believe in the Bible as the infallible Word of God. We believe in the Trinity-Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our oldest three boys have already chosen to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and have been baptized. We are a very strongly Christian family.

 We are a very loving family who cherish life. We all love children. Our hearts and home are big. We spend a lot of quality of time with our children, trying to see them to adulthood as "fishers of men" for Jesus.

Five of our children were adopted as well as Mary. David was orphaned as a teenager. We feel that we have an excellent Christian family in which to raise children. As long as we have physical room, we would love to share our parenting skills, love and all the qualities that make us children of God.

 Mary is loving, giving, and full of energy. We have lots of fun together. She is the best mother I have ever seen. She joins in games whether they are indoor or outdoor games. When we travel, she reads books to us all so that the time seems to go faster. Sometimes, she is able to slip in a classic tale, such as a Charles Dickens story.

 Mary about David: David has a warm smile and hearty laugh that comes into evidence often due to his wonderful sense of humor. He is the best father and husband I have ever met. David is loyal, brave, hard working and honest. Sometimes, David wears a cowboy hat. Children have asked him if he is a cowboy and where is his horse? David and I think it is cute when this happens.

 How we met: I met Mary while working on a farm. She was helping a friend get a job at the same place. I could not stop looking at her. She was so beautiful. Mary started baking goodies for me. I hadn't had someone bake just for me since my mother was alive. At that point, I knew Mary was to be my wife.

        The Courtship begins: Our courtship was pretty normal. We went to dinners, movies, family functions. We also went to church together. No matter what we do, it is great. There is one particular date that was not quite so painless though. We went for a horse ride. Both of us were on one large horse. After a while, the horse decided she did not want both of us on her, so she tried to buck one of us off. She did not care which one. The end result was that we landed in an entanglement of arms and legs while the horse stood happily by. Apparently, our horse ride was over. We put the horse away, prepared two cups of tea, and laughed.

          Our lives together: Our family attends a non-denominational church. Our marriage is unusual compared to most because we work together every day and like it. About seven years ago, we started a home-based business. We manufacture steel products. God has blessed us through this endeavor. I have not had to work outside of the home for several years. I enjoy being a stay-at-home mom.

         Also, the Lord has blessed us in that we have no debts. We own our house and vehicles outright. It is nice not having to worry about things.

          After we adopt, we are planning to keep our employment plans the same. Our home and neighborhood: Our neighbors are wonderful friends. Our children have grown up with the neighbor children, making them all seem like family. Often, we have football games being played in our yard. Our house is situated on 61 acres, so there is plenty of room to play.

       Our present pets happen to be some goats and a beautiful Great Pyrenees dog named Crystal Clear Day. She is great friends with the goats. We do not have any inside pets because some of our friends and family have allergies. Also, no one in the house smokes.

         Extended family: Mary has two brothers and two sisters. Her family lives three or four hours away, so we visit back and forth throughout the year. We visit David's family more often since some of them live close by. He has two brothers and three sisters. We have spoken to our extended family and close friends about our plans to adopt. Everyone is very support.

          Education: David grew up in the public school system. He did not enjoy grade school. After high school, David went to college for Electronic Technology, where he excelled. He has a creative and inventive mind. He found electronics to be a good outlet for his creativity. Mary went to a private grade school and a public high school. She graduated with honors from school. After that, she went on to get her Licensed Practical Nursing license. She finished fifth in her class there.

Our Desire to adopt…

You may wonder why we want to adopt since we have biological children already. We have secondary infertility, meaning that we were able to have children biologically, but now cannot. We know that God would not put this desire in our hearts to have more children without a plan. Adoption is His plan for us. Our sons know a lot about adoption and are excited.

 Adoption experiences: We have a lot of life experiences in the area of adoption. Mary was placed in foster care as a baby and was adopted at around three years old. At the time of the adoption, Mary's new parents were told that she was deaf, mentally challenged and would need heart and back surgery. Incredibly, none of these things ended up being true. I had no surgeries, no hearing impairments, and received straight A's in school, including college. Now, we have adopted five children who could be classified as special needs for various reasons. We feel very blessed to have them in our lives and thank God for bringing our hearts to this place and our children to our family.

Dear Birthmom,

Hello. Our names are David and Mary. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to introduce ourselves.

David and Mary about each other:
My gracious wife is Mary. She is 38 years old and beautiful. Mary is loving, giving, and full of energy. Her hobbies are baking, playing all sports, reading, coaching kids' sports teams, writing and cross-stitching. Mary is the best mother I have ever seen. She joins in whether it is playing indoor or outdoor games. When we travel, she reads books to us all so that the time seems to go faster. Sometimes, she is able to slip in a classic tale. Mary was an A student throughout school and college, graduating both with honors.

David, my husband, is 44 years old. He has a warm smile and hearty laugh that comes into evidence often due to his wonderful sense of humor. He is the best father I have met because he spends so much quality time with each child. David is loyal, brave and honest. His hobbies and interests include hiking, fishing, farming, reading and skiing. David has a degree in Electronic Technology. Unfortunately, David has muscle disorder that causes him painful spasms and muscle weakness. However, this does not stop him from being a wonderful and loving father. We have been married since 1988, all of them glorious years together.

Children in the home:
We have eight beautiful children, although only six are currently living at home. They are the center of our lives. We make sure to attend their school and extracurricular functions, such as sports, 4-H, plays, youth group and church get-togethers. Also, we encourage our children to attend college.

Nicholas is 20 years old. He graduated from high school in 2006, where he played varsity football, ran track and was active in many clubs. Nicholas attended college for a year after graduating. Now, he is gainfully employed at a career job he did not wish to pass up. He is renting a house near his place of employment. Children naturally gravitate to Nicholas and he loves to play games with them. 

Joshua is 18 years old and is a Junior in college. He did this by graduating high school and college at the same time. He has an Associate Degree of Liberal Arts with major concentration on history and government. It is very helpful for him to have this college degree as his hopes are to become a physician. He is accepted in the pre-med program at a private college near us. So, he comes home often, especially on holidays and many weekends. Although he is so accomplished, Joshua is a laid back, happy-go-lucky guy. He is a terrific role model for his younger siblings and loves them very much.

Stephen is 15 years old and is in tenth grade. He loves to play basketball, soccer and run track. Stephen is happy to note that he is taller than Joshua. His hopes for the future are to attend college in the medical field, although he is not sure which occupation. He is looking forward to driving when he turns 16. Fortunately, Stephen is a responsible young man. He does well playing with his little brother and sisters, as well as his older brothers. His younger siblings really look up to Stephen.

Ethan is seven years old and in second grade. He is happy and intelligent. He loves to read, whether it is to himself or to one of us. Ethan also loves to play sports and to swim. He even beats us at a game of croquet occasionally. He plays on a soccer team that Mary coaches. Basketball is his favorite sport. Since Ethan is older than his sisters, he is very caring and protective of them. Ethan is interested in learning Spanish and Sign Language.

Veronica is six years old and in first grade. She has a big smile framed with round cheeks. She loves to go shopping and play with baby dolls. Surprisingly, she also enjoys finding "creepy crawlies" with her daddy. Veronica and Ethan play on the same soccer team. She likes to sing and dance. She also loves to color, draw pictures and write.

Samantha is five years old and loves to cuddle and to have books read to her. She is in kindergarten. She plays well with her siblings and enjoys kicking a ball and riding on her bike. Samantha loves to read, sound out words, and work on puzzles. If there is a song playing, she is often singing and dancing right along with everyone else.

Gabriella is a beautiful and bright girl. She is five years old and works in kindergarten and first grade books. She can actually read some of Ethan's reading books. Her favorite things to do are swimming, gymnastics and ice skating. Gabriella enjoys drawing, dancing, reading books and coloring. She has an amazingly sophisticated sense-of-humor for one so young.

Maliya is a one year old powerhouse. She is a sweet baby who knows her own mind and has an outstanding sense-of-humor. Maliya loves to read books and will sit on our laps while pointing at pictures questioningly. She is proud to be walking on her own. We cherish and love her.

Our lives together:
We love to travel. The destinations of our vacations have been Florida, Texas, Maine, Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon and Idaho, to name a few. Traveling has afforded us an opportunity to broaden our cultural perspectives. Meeting people from different states and countries is exciting. Since Mary enjoys cooking, we get a chance to try out recipes from different nations. One of our family's favorite meals is a Japanese dish called Sukiyaki, which means "a friendship dish." We have walked through wildlife refuges, caves and waterfalls. We have gone to Christian concerts, Globe Trotter games, Six Flags and King's Island Theme Parks. Our family has been blessed by these rich experiences. Our family loves to celebrate holidays and has many new and old traditions. A fun tradition that we keep is that each person gets to choose what the meals will be for their entire birthday. One favorite birthday request is for a piñata. The children love our traditions.

Our family attends church at a non-denominational church. Our marriage is made strong by our mutual faith in God. Mary is self-employed with producing and maintaining our gas/oil wells and a home-based business. We started the business over thirteen years ago. This has given us a great opportunity to spend quality time with our children. Mary is a former nurse.

Our home and community:
Our home is situated on 61 acres with plenty of room to play. Our house was recently completely remodeled. It is a large two-story house with a full basement. We have lived here for over 14 years. Since some of our friends and family have allergies or asthma, we do not allow smoking or indoor pets in our home. We have many friends and acquaintances in our community. All of our family, friends and neighbors are very supportive of our adoption plans. The people in our community are friendly and open.

Adoption Experience:
We have a lot of adoption experiences. Mary was placed in the foster system from birth. She lived with a foster family until she was adopted by her wonderful permanent family. Mary's unique perspective will help our children as they mature.

Five of our children were adopted as well. Three of our children are African American; two are Hispanic/Latino. We are diverse in our ethnicity. There are different levels of openness with each of the adoptions. Two are confidential in which the birthparents made the choice not to share any information or pictures nor did they want any information. One is very open in which we have exchanged identifying information, write letters and send pictures, and have met with the birthmom on several occasions. She is such a sweet, brave and strong person. One adoption involved two siblings (Veronica and Samantha) through the foster care system. Although no contact with the birthparents is allowed, we have kept in contact with their former foster family. We have spoken on the phone and sent letters and pictures to each other. All of our children are well-educated on adoption issues. They are supportive of our plans to adopt one more time and eager to welcome a new baby brother or sister.

We feel comfortable leaving the decision to you on the level of openness you wish to have: confidential, semi-open or open. Please know that we will respect our agreements on this matter.

It takes so much strength of character and maturity to make all the decisions surrounding your life right now. Knowing that this is a difficult time for you, we will be praying for you.

We are a Christian family who believes that our children should reach the highest potential they can obtain for the betterment of their fellow humans. We are raising our children to be Godly men and women who are contributing members of society, to the best of their abilities. Every child is capable of this by their joyful nature. Our children are involved in church, school, and community activities. We home educate as well as video school, online school and use the optional programs. For example, our 18 year old recently graduated from high school with his diploma. Two weeks later, he graduated from college with an Associate Degree. This was possible because we utilized the educational option for high schoolers, where they attend college and high school classes simultaneously. He loves the fact that he is college educated already and hopes to build on this degree until he becomes a physician.

We are a very open family, so please feel free to ask us anything. Some of our adoptions are open, some are confidential. We leave this decision up to the birth families' comfort level.

Please know we will pray for you, realizing you are in pain and grieving.

 God Bless, David and Mary