Be assured that if God waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious. ~Andrew Murray

OUR STORY

Once upon a time ... We met at our church, Crossroads in January of 1997. We dated for almost a year and then married April 4, 1998. Along with Steve came Rachael, who was 9 years old when we met. What an angel she was in her karate uniform. I couldn’t believe, not only did I get a wonderful husband but also a beautiful daughter, who is now almost 21. The next addition to our family was our dog, Sidney, now 10. She kept us occupied for a while until after about a year into our marriage we felt the call to start a bigger family. Little did we know that the process would be so long and difficult.

Our first pregnancy came a year later on Christmas 1999. But, something wasn’t quite right. After going to the doctor we realized the baby was forming in my fallopian tubes. I was devastated and couldn’t believe this child would never be born. But, God had a plan. After about another year and a half of trying we sought out a fertility specialist, Dr Chin. After several inseminations and surgeries we finally got pregnant about 7 months later. I was so excited yet a little fearful. The pregnancy was typical, I felt pretty sick for most of the time. Finally, ringing in the new year, Hope Elise was born on January 1, 2002. We were so blessed to have the healthiest baby girl I’d ever seen. She has so much spirit and strength its no wonder she made it through. God had a plan, to bless us with a baby girl named Hope. We thought since 9/11 happened while I was pregnant, that we needed a strong name to welcome in the coming year. And, that she is, and to this day the most amazing little leader we’ve seen.

Right before Hope turned 2, I became pregnant again. But, something went wrong in my 10th week. I remember around Valentines Day feeling strange. It wasn’t until my 13th week appointment that we found out the babies heart had stopped beating. They didn’t know why it happened but I was heart broken again. I knew this sort of thing happens all the time but I felt crushed even more because of our infertility problems. Life went on and Hope kept me busy. Two weeks later my sister was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. This was all too much to take. Another year and a half went by and to our surprise we became pregnant again. We were so excited but again fearful of loosing another baby. We prayed and asked God to bless this baby and keep it safe. But again something went wrong. We found out at about 9 weeks the baby did not survive. It just so happened to be the day before thanksgiving. Later I found out the baby was missing a chromosome and that was why she didn’t survive. At least I knew something this time around but it really didn’t make things any easier. So time went by, another Winter passed, another Spring gone, Hope and Rachael growing up way too fast. Then the summer of 2006 we planned to start another round of fertility drugs. But, shortly before starting the drugs, I changed my mind. For my health and well-being, I began to look into adoption. It really never seemed an option until now. I was ready to approach this new way of completing our family. After a few months of praying, seeking counsel and research, we found the organization, All Gods Children International. On September 26, 2006 we began the paper work for a baby girl from China.

What a journey it has been. Who would have thought, after all this time of planning for a baby girl that God had another plan. He wanted us to have a son, a toddler boy instead.

On September 23, 2008, (actually 25 years to the day that my Grandfather had passed away), I got the call. I was out weeding in my garden at about 1:30 in the afternoon. Then came the call. It was Kate from our agency with news of a little boy about 18 months old with a cleft lip and palette repaired. We had been on the special needs list for almost a year along with the healthy list as well. After all the medicals came through with shinning colors and much prayer, we accepted the referral of Sun En Wei (En meaning grace and Wei meaning great) on September 25, 2008. It was almost exactly 2 years to the day that we started paper work. Our log in date was March 21, 2007. His birthday was just 2 weeks before that on March 4, 2007. Another cool thing was that we waited 3 more months for confirmation, it arrived on Dec 30th, actually stamped and made official on Christmas, December 25th! It was nine years to the day after our first pregnancy. Somehow it sooths some of the wounds left from the babies we have lost, but I believe my babies lost are now in heaven and being held by my sister who passed away from Breast Cancer on August 8, 2008. I know I will see them all again one day when its my turn to go. In the mean time they are in the Lord’s care.

God had a plan. My heart broke when my sister left this earth last August, but God knew the timing of this baby would help in the grieving process. It was about 6 weeks after Lori’s death that we received the referral. Lori’s favorite verse was Jeremiah 29:11-12. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. I’d like to add a Hope and a Micah to that verse! God had a plan for Micah to join our family all those months ago. We are thrilled and excited to see what God has in store for us with Micah. We are hoping to travel to China sometime in February 2009 to bring him home. Thank you for all your prayers, love and support that have brought us to this point in our journey. We are blessed to have such deep friendships and a close family. My prayer is for all those waiting for their son or daughter, will be met with them soon for the journey of life together to begin. God bless.

–Kim and Steve