Our Backstory

When Brad and I were married in 1999, we talked about having children of our own and homeschooling them....I always said that I wanted 4 kids, but we figured we wouldn't cross that path until many years down the road. Well, God had another plan and He blessed us with baby #1 sooner than we imagined; our daughter was born in 2001. I had a very rough pregnancy and almost lost my life and the baby's due to a 13lb tumor growth. We waited some time before trying to have baby #2, and even then I endured placenta previa complications during that pregnancy, but our son was born a healthy birth in 2005. As years past, adoption crossed our minds as a surface thought, but life got busier, and busier, and we never made time to pursue it deeper. Little did we know what God had in store for us, and pregnancy #3 took us by complete surprise in 2012. I spent much of the pregnancy in bed and it was my most challenging delivery and recovery process, however baby #3 arrived in Jan 2013.

It may sound crazy, but even with all of the pain and suffering baby #3 brought me, I look back and I believe he was a divine gift in which God used to change my life. His allergies to dairy and certain foods, caused me to alter my diet right away with breastfeeding. His needs caused me to learn how to sacrifice my own wants. I learned a new kind of will power. Over a year timespan, I lost close to 70lbs, was healed from caffeine addiction and began totally changing the way we shopped for our family foods and products. I now have a much more natural, organic, approach to what we buy and use. Having baby #3 flipped my whole world upside down and forced me to no longer be an administrative workaholic. I made major changes to my career and priorities. God brought me to my knees, humbled me, and gave me a fresh perspective.

There were dismissed dreams still worth pursuing, and a deeper calling to fulfill, and throughout 2013, God showed Brad and I the new vision He had for our lives. We took a big leap of faith and opened our own Private School in the summer of 2013, and it was during that same season, we heard an author named Bob Goff, come to speak at Crossroads Christian Church about his book, "Love Does". His message and personal testimony stirred a fire within us....both of us felt the same urge in our hearts and that was the call to pursue adoption. The concept behind "Love Does" is that love acts. love moves. love goes. It's not stagnant. It's a very simple idea, but once you grasp it, you start seeing love through a different lens.

One of the first steps we took on our "Love Does" journey, was to welcome international exchange students into our home for a temporary summer stay. It was an amazing experience that proved to us, not only could we all enjoy welcoming kids into our home, but we could bond with them, and they could become like family.
The next step we took, was attending a Focus On The Family adoption seminar at Saddleback Church, called "Wait No More". **read more about this on our Fostadopt post.
We took many, many, many steps as we became certified, went through training and completed our Home Study to become Fostadopt parents.

Another step we took was beginning to help plant a new church at the Corona-Norco Rescue Mission; we learned how to serve "the least, the last and the lost" and God really opened our eyes to reveal the needs of families in our own community.

As I wrap this up, it's the Spring of 2014, and Pastor Chuck at Crossroads Church just closed a series called Pursued....in the series, he shared how "Relentless Pursuit Takes Energy". The sermons were based in the book of Hosea chapters 1-3, sharing of Hosea's pursuit of his wife, however, the same concept so closely relates to the passion adoptive parents must have at the forefront in the pursuit of bringing home our adoptive children. The waiting isn't easy; I struggle sometimes with patience, but we continue praying and asking the Lord to work on our behalf. We're praying for the children we do not even yet know, but we know that God knows exactly who they are and He has a plan for them to join our family. Ephesians 3:20 Now glory be to God, who by His mighty power at work within us, is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of -- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hope.

Michaela Roekle