Newest Couple for Because of Isaac

We are incredibly excited about where the Lord is taking Because of Isaac. Our first couple, Grant & Elizabeth are now officially on Bethany Christian Service's website which means they could become parents at any moment. They have not raised all of their required money, but the finish line is within their grasp! Our second couple, Steve & Teri have raised more than half of the $10,000 that they need to become the parents of Abule and Alaowei.

And now it is time for our third couple. Unfortunately, my husband (a former graphic designer) does all of our website work for Because of Isaac. He does that on our IMAC which was recently fried in a power surge due to some faulty electricity lines in our house. And as a result, we cannot update the Because of Isaac website until we get a new computer. We don't want to put Ryan & Brianna's unveiling on hold for too long so I have decided to put them on my blog for right now until we can update the website.

So, without further ado ... here are Ryan & Briana! Please consider supporting this couple with a one-time donation or a monthly donation. They need to raise nearly $25,000. Ready ... get set ... GO!!!!

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Ryan and Briana were married on May 30, 2009 in Battle Ground, Washington. "We knew we wanted to start our family right away," Briana recalls. "We were so excited to be finally at that place in our lives where we could become parents!"

Like most couples who deal with infertility, it never occurred to either Ryan or Briana that a baby wouldn't just happen right away. It wasn't long before people started to inquire about when they planned to start their family. "We said and believed with our whole hearts that we were simply trusting in God and his timing and that it would happen when it was supposed to."

But with each passing anniversary, the absence of the child they'd both so strongly desired left them feeling sad and broken. "I felt like I had failed in what I considered to be one of the most important areas of my life. It didn't seem like my dream to become a mommy and Ryan's dream to become a daddy was ever going to happen."

But God knew better. He is able to do exceedingly more than we can ever hope or imagine1 (Ephesians 3:20).

At the end of October 2011, Ryan and Briana made the decision to fully release their dream of becoming parents and to completely give their desire to God. They weren't giving up. But they had decided that it was time to trust that God would make them parents in His time and not their time. 

But before they would begin the process of adopting a child, they first decided to adopt a cute little furball named Sophie. "Talk about a crash course in parenting! Sophie really kept us on our toes from the get-go!"

"And then, one week after Sophie came into our lives, we received a life-changing email from Wendi with Because of Isaac. If we were open to adoption, they wanted to sponsor us and help us raise the money to become parents.The amazing thing is that although Wendi knew of our infertility, she didn't know of our desire to adopt. We hadn't told anyone that the months of failed treatments and years of disappointment had led to more and more conversations about adoption. It just had never been financially feasible. Needless to say we were overwhelmed by God's timing and his faithfulness to us. HE knew!"

Just a few minutes spent with Ryan and Briana, it is obvious that they will be fantastic parents. "I see how children are drawn to Ryan and how good he is with them, and I know that he will make a wonderful daddy. And I know that God created in me a mother's heart, and that I can love a child not born of my body, as my own."

Would you help us in supporting Ryan and Briana's adoption? Checks can be written to Bethany Christian Services. And mailed to:

John & Wendi Kitsteiner

PSC 76 Box 669

APO, AE 09720

China Shoes

I have very few items on my "get-out-of-my-house-if-there-is-a-fire" list. The quilt our friend in Florida, Rachel, made us for our wedding. Some photo albums. A cross JB made me while we were dating with our names on it. A scarf Hatice made me.

And these shoes. 

The story behind them is not unfamiliar to regular readers. In 2007, just after we had suffered our fourth failed IVF result -- just after we had decided to adopt a daughter from China. We received a gift from an online friend. You can see a picture of the shoes, as they arrived in my mail box by clicking here: Our "China" shoes.

Fast forward. We have two boys. We make the difficult and very painful decision to withdraw our Dossier from China due to increasing wait times and increasing costs. To not adopt China. To not bring the daughter we always pictured being in our family ... home.

I sent the shoes to a friend who was having a daughter. Her name was Rachel too -- but a different Rachel from the one who made the quilt. I told her to keep them. That I couldn't use them anymore. That I couldn't even see them anymore. They made me sad. Not that we weren't going to have a daughter. I didn't care about that at all. But that pulling out of China made me feel, in a sense, that we were losing a child.

And I couldn't be reminded of that.

But then, a surprise. We were pregnant again. And this time it was a girl. And my friend sent the shoes back to me. She had kept them!

And now, Abigail wears them. She's almost outgrown them. But they remind me, in one moment, of God's providence. Of his amazing ways. Of His ways not being our ways.

And while I was always be a bit sad when I think back on the China adoption that wasn't meant to be, I have realized that Abigail's presence is the presence of the daughter that HE  always planned for us to have.



Story People

I have mentioned the STORY PEOPLE on my blog before. I just love them! Some of the sayings are strange but some of them just so perfectly capture an emotion or a state of being. JB and I found the picture (below) before we ever had children -- adopted or biological. We hung it on our fridge, and I would dream about the child that might eventually come to live with us.

"For a long time, there were only footprints & laughter in our dreams & even from such small things, we knew we could not wait to love you forever."

In 2007, JB's sister Katie and her new husband Eddie gave me a print for Christmas. Here is a photo of the print which was hanging in our adopted son Isaac's nursery when he joined our family in May of 2008.

"In my dream he told me to hold the secret of his birth safe and teach him when he forgot."