Our Story of Renewed Hope

God has been doing something very unique in our life over the past month and a half. God has renewed our hope with regards to our future and kids. God has provided in ways we could have NEVER imagined. We were trying to figure out how to express what has been going on in our life recently and the best way to do it is just to copy and paste the letter we sent to our friends, here. I know a lot of family and friends read this, so we figure this is the best way to let everyone know about what God has been doing in our life.

Dear Family and Friends,


There is something that we would like to tell you all about, but we have been struggling with how and when to tell everyone. As many of you know because of Kristin’s heart, she is not able to carry a baby to full term. That has raised a lot of questions in our hearts and minds with regards to family planning. We have thought about different routes and options, but we did not have clear direction one way or another. Over this past year, as God has been working in our lives, bringing us contentment with the idea of not having kids, He has been working in Brenda Vriezema’s heart. About a month and a half ago, Tim and Brenda approached us, wondering if we had ever thought about a gestational carrier (surrogate mother). That is something we felt we could never ask someone and so we never even really considered that idea in the past. While talking with them that evening, they asked if we would consider having Brenda carry our child. We were speechless (still are). In the past month and a half, this is something we have been praying about, looking to God’s leading for, to decipher if this is what He has planned for our life. We feel that this is an option that would both glorify, exemplify, and honor God’s perfect plan and how He brings brothers and sisters together in Christ through ways we would never imagine.


At this point we have decided to pursue this. We have not started any of the medical procedures; we are currently in the process of working through all of the logistics. It is a lengthy and costly process with lots of legal hoops to jump through, but we are diving in head first. We don’t know exactly when we are going to start the medical process of it, but this is something that has been consuming our lives and we don’t feel we can keep it a secret from our dear friends anymore. It has been difficult to not share what God has been doing in our life, but we needed to make sure that this is what He was calling us to.
We would love to talk to you all in person, but we felt that by sending out a mass email, it was the best way to tell everyone at the same time. Also, this helps in making sure that everyone knows the same details. We do understand that not all of the details are covered, nor can we do that through an email like this. But this is something we are completely open and willing to talk about. In telling everyone this, we realize that it is no longer a secret. Our only fear is that as the news spreads like wildfire, people will think and assume Brenda is pregnant already. Let me clarify: she is not :). We thank you for your prayers in the past and we covet your prayers for both us AND THE VRIEZEMAS as we proceed to follow God’s will together. Though it would biologically be our child and Brenda would carry that child, we feel this is something that only GOD could orchestrate. We are only the instruments in His sovereign plan.
 
I know you are probably just as floored as we are – yet at the same time, we have learned to not put God in a box. We have no clue where this is going to lead us – it may lead to us having our own biological children, yet it may not work. All we know is that we are READY to take this leap of faith and READY to see where God takes us. And yes, I will be doing PLENTY of blogging through this whole process. I will also try to talk about what life has been like for the past month and a half. We are just SO EXCITED, yet humbled by Brenda’s gift of complete selfless love. It is unexplainable.

It still makes me cry.

So, we hope as this story of renewed hope unfolds, may GOD BE GLORIFIED because a process such as this, has nothing to do with us – it is purely the work of His hands.