A journey to get out of debt and live a life free of financial stress, led Julie, her husband Mark and their two children on a much wilder ride than ever imagined, eventually leading them to adopt two siblings from Ethiopia in 2008.
Julie’s adoption experience has made her a passionate advocate for children around the world and encouraging other adoptive parents overwhelmed by the high cost of adoption. Her book, Adopt Without Debt, will be released by Abingdon Press.
Julie speaks at national orphan care conferences, churches and moms groups. But it’s not always about adoption. Becoming debt-free doesn’t happen without a lot of sacrifice which means learning to be content with less. Julie shares lessons she’s learned along the way, encouraging other women to seek out the things that are truly important. With honesty and humor, she also talks about her decade-long struggle with depression.
With 18 years of experience in the communication and graphic design field, Julie has worked for Fortune 1000 companies, major universities, churches and non-profits. But she’s loved writing for as long as she can remember. Today Julie blogs about adoptive family life, affording adoption and financial freedom at http://juliegumm.com. She has been published in Lifelines Magazine and regularly contributes to various adoption and orphan care blogs.
Julie works part time for her alma mater John Brown University. Combining that with writing and being the mom of four kids doesn’t leave much time but if she can snag some of that elusive free time, she loves to curl up with a good fiction book, watch television or go to the movies with her husband. She loves good stories in any format!