My wife took the time recently to remember and write part of our story together. What follows is the abbreviated tale from Keri’s perspective of our wild adoption adventures.

My life is nothing like I expected it to be. As a teenage girl I had my future carefully planned. I would attend college, get married to a tall handsome man, and have two children: girls, no boys. I went to college, met Caleb, a tall handsome man and got married but after that not much went as planned. About two years after we were married we had our first child, a daughter who we named Ashley. Four years later my plan went out the door because we had a son, Nick. But we were so happy to have him. Both pregnancies were extremely difficult so I elected to have my tubes tied following Nick’s delivery.

A few years later I needed a hysterectomy. Before the surgery the decision to have only two children just didn’t seem final. However, on the day of the procedure I cried because I knew that was it; there would be no more children. Life went on and we enjoyed our two kids, Ashley and Nick. They grew older but our family just didn’t seem complete. We had a large home but one bedroom was empty. One evening we all went to the movies. We saw Father of the Bride part II. That movie began the process of change in our lives. We knew when we walked out of the theater that we wanted more children.

I have never been one to do things slowly or to procrastinate. I was on the phone and started the adoption process within weeks. We found AGCI in the Yellow Pages after several discussions with other agencies. We felt God had led us to the right place. The adoption process was not easy. (Is it ever?) We lost one referral in Bulgaria then changed to Romania. Following our change to Romania we waited two years through the country’s closure. Finally, after two years we received the referral of a beautiful little girl, Nicoleta. She was one of the first children adopted through the Romanian program at AGCI.

Two years later we returned for our son, Luc. This time I traveled with my oldest daughter, Ashley. She was thirteen at the time. She fell in love with her new brother and she fell in love with Romania. Our family traveled back a year later for a vacation and we enjoyed every moment touring our newly adopted country.

When Ashley was sixteen she became interested in going on a foreign mission trip. She didn’t want to do the usual church sponsored week long trip. She wanted something longer, something bigger. We decided to get on the internet to explore what was available. We came upon an organization called Adventures in Missions. They offered a six-week trip to Romania. Ashley soon signed up and ventured out on a trip with fourteen other girls who she had never met before that time. It was the trip of a lifetime for Ashley. While in Romania God captured her heart. She met lifelong friends during those weeks. She returned home a different person.

After returning home Ashley asked me about sponsoring a child with All God’s Children. It took me by surprise because she had researched this on her own and had already signed up. She just needed me to send a check for her every month after she gave me the money. We immediately sent the check and it wasn’t long before we received a picture in the mail of a little boy named Miguel. The rules were very clear about these children. They were not adoptable so I felt very safe. He was very cute but we were just helping to support him each month. I remember Ashley saying, “Oh mom, you and dad should adopt him.” But I repeated the rules: not adoptable. Our family was complete.

We continued to send the checks and soon Ashley was making plans for life after high school. She felt strongly after her Romanian adventure that God had called her to missions. We couldn’t afford a Christian College so we were exploring other options. Soon she received a call from Moody Bible Institute. My Uncle had attended Moody so I was familiar with the school. The biggest plus was that it is a tuition-free school. God was making a way. Ashley soon applied but we knew that it was hard to get accepted immediately after high school, so she moved to plan B. She was invited to go to Mexico for the summer to live with a young missionary couple. Then she asked if in December she could go to Guatemala to visit Miguel, the child she sponsored. She was saving the money and she wanted to see him for Christmas. As before she had already contacted AGCI and received approval to spend three weeks there. Her dad and I agreed to let her make the trip.

Life in Mexico was hard and Ashley learned much. She lived by faith every day because the couple she lived with had no support. Each day they looked to God to supply even the food for that day. She didn’t get into Moody right away so she stayed in Mexico longer. I think in those days God was preparing her for her ministries that were yet to come. She had a heart for those who also lived from meal to meal. She made it home in time to go to Guatemala. Immediately after arriving at Hannah’s Hope in Guatemala City, she called saying how in love she was with the little boy, Miguel. “He is so cute mom, you and dad have to adopt him.” She would talk like him and plead for him. That was what I heard during every telephone call. My answer was always the same, “We can’t adopt him because he isn’t available.”

After returning home Ashley was accepted into Moody for the winter semester. As we traveled to Chicago Ashley kept on about little Miguel in Guatemala. Finally I relented and said I would call AGCI to find out more about him. I was in her new dorm room in January of 2006 when Hollen called me back and explained that there was a waiting list for children like Miguel. His case was very difficult and he was not presently even adoptable. He was part of a group of nine kids nicknamed by the AGCI staff as the “Mixco Nine.” Their cases were hopelessly tangled in the Guatemalan legal system. When I hung up the phone I felt relieved and off the hook. Miguel is not available, so there!

Ashley continued with school but was determined to return to Guatemala. She wanted to go back for the summer. She would spend one month at Hannah’s Hope and then to YWAM (Youth with a Mission) for the rest of the summer. After a month at Hannah’s Hope she decided to stay on at AGCI and was hired as a full-time employee. She was so in love with Guatemala and the people. She also loved a little boy called Miguel.

Month after month she talked about him. Month after month I shut the door. One night we were on the phone talking and Ashley brought it up again. This time my husband, Caleb, heard me from the other room once again stating all the reasons we could not adopt him. “First of all he isn’t available and secondly we don’t have the money.” Caleb yelled from the other room, “Keri, have you asked God for the money.” I quickly told him to be quiet.

Around this same time I was reading a book. It was titled, If You Want to Walk on Water You Have to Get Out of the Boat by John Ortenberg. After my husband yelled out that night I heard God saying, “Keri, leave the safety of your boat and meet me on the water.” It would mean going back into debt as we added another child to our family. It would mean going back on an adoption journey that I knew could be long and painful.

Finally I decided, “Keri it’s time.” Ashley said, “Mom, why don’t you complete your dossier, go on the waiting list and maybe about the time you get to the bottom Miguel will become available.” No guarantees here at all; a pure walk of faith. The next day I called and talked to Hollen. She said, “Keri, you have to realize up front that you may not get Miguel. If someone else is first on the list ahead of you they would get him. Also his case is still filled with problems and it might be years before any of the Mixco Nine are available. This was the ultimate faith walk. Caleb and I decided to take it.

I quickly filled out our dossier. I completed it in record time, two weeks! I knew we had to get on the list as soon as possible before other families got ahead of us. We requested to go on the boys and girls list. Just in case Miguel was taken we wanted to be open to whoever God chose. So in July, 2006 we began our journey. By about October we were nearing our turn on the bottom of the list. Things were looking good but no guarantees yet.

Also in October we had already scheduled a trip to visit Ashley in Guatemala. Two weeks before the trip I received a phone call. It was Heather (the girl from the book, only grown up). Something was up and I knew it. She proceeded to tell me about a young girl named Ana who was living with her. Ana was older and Heather was looking for a family for her. Ana really wanted a daddy and Heather knew Caleb was a good dad. My heart sank because I knew this meant we had to either turn Ana down or give up Miguel. How could I do that? Caleb made it easy. He said, “Giving up on Miguel is not an option.” Then my heart seemed to scream, “TAKE BOTH!” Oh my goodness, how can we do that? We weren’t even looking for Miguel and now God has invited us to take two? (Take two, they’re small!) Caleb and I talked about some options and we told AGCI how we could do it financially.

It didn’t take five minutes for Heather to call back and accept our proposal. We were now adopting two children. We traveled to Guatemala to meet not only our possible son but our daughter. It was an unforgettable trip. I had to guard my heart a little because I didn’t know for sure if we would get Miguel but it was still wonderful. We signed our power of attorney for Ana and started our adoption of her.

In March we returned to Guatemala for a trip and we were finally given the news that Miguel would be our son. We couldn’t officially sign the papers because AGCI was still waiting for his birth certificate but he was to be ours. We returned in May, 2007 to sign the official Power of Attorney. It was a long year with many twists, turns, heartbreaks, and frustrations but finally in May 2008 I traveled back to Guatemala to bring Miguel home. Ana made it home a few months before.

I tease Ashley and tell her if Miguel misbehaves I’ll send him back for her to raise. When he’s a teenager she should be old enough to take him back. It’s unbelievable to think that we are raising that little boy whose picture came in the mail so many years ago . Through the faith and obedience (and relentless nagging) of a sixteen year old girl we gained another son and another daughter.

When I was a teenage girl I had a plan of what my future would be like: college, marriage, and two daughters. I imagine God in Heaven smiled to Himself and said, “I love it when people make plans. Wait till Keri sees what I have planned for her. When she’s ready I’ll show her my plan and invite her out of her boat to meet me on the water.” I have three daughters and I have three sons! I’m having trouble getting used to the idea that I’m the mom of six: Ashley 21, Nick 17, Nicoleta 14, Luc 12, Ana 12, and Miguel 6. Oh well, so much for my life plan!