Blog World, Here We Come!

Hello Friends, Family, and Followers! I have been viewing blogs for quite a while now and finally came to the realization that I needed to have a blog of my very own. With everything going on in our lives, it's hard to keep everyone updated on the "Miller Happenings" in a timely manner. Hopefully, through blogging, this will give you all glimpse into our lives. A little background on our journey, for those of you who are not (yet) a friend or family member...

Ronnie and I have been married for 5 1/2 amazing years. I can truly say that I married my best friend and I am so thankful that he chose me to spend his life with. Ronnie is in the military and between trainings, TDY's and Deployments, we have been apart for over a year during our marriage. I believe that those separations have made us into a stronger team and we are committed to overcome life's challenges together.

For the past 3 1/2 years, we have been journeying along the dark road of Infertility. I always dreamed of being a mother, so this was never something that I considered would be a part of my life. When Ronnie and I got married, we planned on being young parents and filling our house until it was overflowing with kids. We soon realized that our "plans" weren't necessarily aligning with God's plans. Infertility became a part of our lives, for better or worse. We entered the world of temperature charts, invasive procedures, and too many failed pregnancy tests to count, all the while crying out to God to remove this thorn from our lives. We have experienced so many highs and lows affiliated with IF; there have been days so dark that I find it difficult even to get out of bed in the morning. But through it all, God has never left our side. Because we lived in a somewhat rural area, we weren't able to see an actual Infertility Specialist until we moved to Texas. In January we were accepted into the Military's "Reproductive Assistance" Program, here in San Antonio, and we're receiving excellent specialty care as we continue to seek out the source of our Infertility. We believe that God has opened this door for us, so we gratefully taking advantage of this opportunity. We hope and pray to have a child biologically, but we are also trying to come to terms with the fact that it may not be in God's Plan.

As we continue to seek Fertility Care, we are also taking another leap of faith. God put adoption on my heart as we continued to experience IF. I started researching International Adoption and Domestic Adoption, and I began to wonder how we could financially afford to adopt. Meanwhile, God was working on my husband's heart as well. Ronnie came to me and revealed that he thought we should pursue the Foster-to-Adopt Program. I was amazed that both he and I felt led to adopt and we knew that this was a special calling from God. As we researched Foster-Adoption, we began to see what a great need there is to find homes for children, right here in our own city. There are over 145 million orphans in the world, 120,000 in the United States, and at least 12,000 in the state of Texas alone. We simply cannot ignore these startling statistics any longer. The good new is that we are not alone in answering this important call. My cousins, Kirsten and Micah, are currently pursuing adoption from the Foster Care System as well. They have been a great source of knowledge and support as we tried to decide if we were truly able to handle this process. You can view their blog at www.micahandkirsten.blogspot.com. One of my other cousins is adopted; she was my best friend throughout childhood and I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without her. Also, Ronnie's parents became Foster Parents during their "Empty Nest" phase, and they are in the process of adopting a beautiful young teenager who we already consider to be a part of the family. While witnessing these unselfish acts of love and after searching our own hearts, we have learned that no matter who we are or where we are in life, we are all children of God.

So here we are... pursuing Fertility Care and Adoption simultaneously. Crazy? Maybe. Hopeful? Always. We are trusting that God sees the bigger picture, so we know He will see us through this journey. Thank you all for coming alongside us as we travel through the unknown. No matter what happens, the Joy of the Lord will continue to be our Strength!

-Heather