Merry Christmas from the Reiters

Merry Christmas friends and family!  What a joyful and celebratory time of the year!  We celebrate with you from next door or across the oceans!  We love you and thank God for you!

This year has held many challenges, celebrations, and changes.  This was our first full year with Aloysia who we adopted into our family in October of 2009.  She is a freshman this year at Northwest Nazarene University studying in the Theology department and feeling a call to ministry.  We are very proud of her and her beautiful contagious spirit.  We are blessed to call her family and know God has an incredible path ahead of her!

This year also held the amazing birth of our youngest son, Samuel Christopher, born July 17th.  He is a miracle to encounter, just as all life is. I was sick during the first trimester of the pregnancy and soon found out that I had passed Fifths Disease to my baby.  From week 13 to week 30 we were faced with possible miscarriage, fetal leukemia, substantial hydrops (liquid on his body), heart failure, brain damage, Downs Syndrome, and other issues.  We were given options for inuetro transfusions, termination, amniocentesis or nothing.  We spent time weeping on our knees asking God what we should do - He responded with, "Peace be still and know that I AM GOD."  We chose not to invade the womb with transfusions and just wait and pray. Around week 18 we felt the need to name him, and Samuel, which means "God hears", was the name that was written on our hearts. Over the course of the following weeks we realized the significance of his name. 

Around week 26, we heard our first good news.  The doctor, after watching and studying our ultrasound sat us down and asked us to recount all the things we had been told and shown about Samuel and his continuing failure to thrive inutero.  We listed off all of the things that we had both seen, heard, and studied.  The doctor, with his old wrinkley smile and strong British accent, of which I will never forget said, "Well, your son is somehow becoming well.  All of these things that we have seen are reversing. Your son is getting better!" 

Samuel was born strong and healthy on July 17th at 12:13am with bilateral clubfeet - something the five doctors working his case never saw.  I had to smile when he was born.  Of all that could have gone wrong with Samuel, the only thing on the list was his feet.....a fixable and very treatable deformity.  This will be a 3 to 4 year journey in braces while he grows, but that is a small price to pay for his beautiful sweet life!

Abigail is 4 years old and loving being old enough to help mommy with baby Samuel. She loves to color and paint and create.  She plays dressup every day and would wear dresses everywhere all the time if mommy would let her.  This is a definite point of contention, since mommy is a jeans and t-shirt kid.  Both grandma's are definitely happy though. 

Micah is 2 years old and thinks that Samuel is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  He doesn't quite understand that wrestling a 5 month old is not a great idea, although Samuel usually giggles to his delight.  Micah loves to color on everything......everything (smile - sigh).

Chris and Cherie are also on a wonderful upcoming new journey.  God has called our family to start a church in Boise Idaho.  We will be moving from Oak Harbor, Washington where we are currently ministring as the youth and worship pastors at the Nazarene church, to the north end of downtown Boise in February 2011.  We will be getting jobs to work part time in the community and fundraising the other half through individual sponsors and churches.  We can't wait to see what God is going to do in the hearts of people in Boise. 

We hope this year has been a wonderful year for you. We have grown in our faith and know that the Lord goes before us in the days ahead just as He has been with us in the days past.  We love you and appreciate your role in our lives.  Blessings to you.

Grace and Peace,

Chris, Cherie, Aloysia, Abigail, Micah, and Samuel

Pictures of the family

I keep getting the grandparents asking for new pictures . . . . so here they are! Enjoy.

I would say its been way too long since I've posted on here, but with the season we've had since January of this year, you'll understand. God has been at work in ways that have been incredibly challenging and yet deeply miraculous. If you haven't heard the story from my mouth, let me tell you it in writing.

His name is Samuel, and he should arrive any day now! The sooner the better - I say. But whenever he arrives, it will be an amazing day. He wasn't supposed to even make it. Here's his story.

We found out we were pregnant in November. We were excited and I decided quickly in December of '09 that I needed to quit Starbucks (which I still miss), and just have two jobs - worship pastor and mommy. It was a good decision definitely inspired by God. He knew what was coming.

At 7 weeks pregnant I was exposed to Fifths Disease without knowing it, or really being worried about it if I was. At 13 weeks along, I broke out in a itchy rash on my hands and feet and a few days later woke up feeling 80 years old, arthritic and slow. I googled my symptoms along with pregnancy and up popped Fifths Disease. I immediately called my doctor to get tested. After the blood test, of which came back positive, they began a continuous ultrasound check every two weeks on my growing baby. The first test showed no signs that the virus had passed the placenta. We were grateful . . . but that didn't last long. The next ultrasound came in conjunction with my Quad Screen, which tests for genetic issues - and mine came back positive in regards to Downs Syndrome. The bomb went off.

We were scheduled to head to a specialty hospital for deeper testing. This ultrasound was the first of many that were incredibly difficult. The images that the doctors got were scary. This baby, of which we had just found out was a boy, was very sick. He had most of the hard markers for Downs Syndrome, and was showing significant signs of Fifths Disease (parvovirus B19). He was extremely anemic with holes in his heart and there was deep infection in his body, and the list went on and on. We were told that he would probably not survive.

After praying, weeping, and trying to decide what to do in regards to amniocentesis and an inutero blood transfusion, we decided that we weren't supposed to do anything. God settled our hearts after a conversation with the 5th doctor we had met on the baby's case. She said he may even have fetal leukemia, and if that was that case, he would miscarriage soon. We wanted the womb to be a "holy place" as long as it could be regardless of his sickness. So we waited and prayed. We sent out prayer requests across the world, and in return received incredible notes of encouragement from people we didn't even know who were praying for our son.

We decided one morning with deep spiritual conviction that we needed to name him. God wanted us to name him. So I looked at my husband and said, I think I keep hearing the name "Samuel". My husband teared up and said that was the name he had been hearing as well. We went to the computer and looked up the meaning of Samuel. It said, "God heard, or requested of God." We cried. I called my mother who had been up that morning praying and she told me on the phone through weeping, "I told the Lord as I prayed for my grandson that I didn't even know his name, and the Lord said, 'his name is Samuel'." Wow - the Lord had named my son.

Around week 23, we went in for yet another specialty ultrasound - by this time we've had numerous appointments and consultations. We went through the ultrasound searching for any signs of encouragement from the technician working on my belly - we were grateful to hear his little heartbeat if nothing else. The consulting doctor came in and said he wanted a few more shots and aided the technician through some different views. He kept saying, "Beautiful, beautiful!" What was beautiful?! We didn't know. Yet.

We went into the consultation room to wait. The doctor came in - a lovely 60+ British man with white hair and a calming smile. With a thick accent that sounded like angels singing, he said, "Now tell me what WAS wrong with your son?" What WAS wrong . . . . . we rattled off the list of maladies and then waited. "Well," the doctor began, "Your son seems to be pulling out of all of this. He has some remaining issues that we want to watch, but I believe your son is becoming well." In his long explanation of maladies, he even referenced a "miraculous event". I'll say!

From then on, we had a couple set-backs that were perhaps just the doctors being cautious. Our last intense check-up was at week 36, and they said he looks fine - "If I hadn't have looked at your son's file, and how sick he was, I would say just by looking at his ultrasounds today, that you have a perfectly normal son." Praise God! Who knows what will happen when Samuel arrives, but we know this - he was sick and God healed him. And if he has Downs Syndrome, although I don't think he does since God spoke to my husband during a board meeting and told him "Samuel is fine", then we know this - God is still God, and He still has a plan for us and for our son Samuel. Amen!

My mom always said to enjoy it, cause it will go too fast . . .

I think that my jaw must have dropped at the realization that 2010 was upon us. I turn 32 tomorrow, and I'm not freaking out about it, however, I am a little freaked out at how quickly the children are growing up. Aloysia has a job at McDonalds and we are teaching her how to drive - scary in itself. Abigail is 3, and I am amazed every day at her ability to comprehend the world around her. Micah is 1 1/2, and he is ALL boy - into everything.

I recall my mother telling me when Abigail was born to enjoy the small things, because they go by so fast. You know what I'm talking about, the realizations, the first words, the talks into the late evening, the hugs, and i love you's - it all seem to pass quickly.

So I have made a couple decisions in that last month - I quit Starbucks, which was a huge decision - I couldn't do it all - and it took my energy, mothering patience, and a lot of frustration to realize that I was NOT Wonderwoman! My husband needed a wife that was relatively sane (I'm sure you understand if you're a mother), and my kids needed a mom that wasn't just running around the house freaking out because she was too tired to handle anything.

So if you are in the same position as me - where you feel overwhelmed and stretched thin - perhaps something needs to go. You are only human, and God calls us to be effective in ministry to the world, not EXHAUSTED and ineffective - right! Just a thought. I chose to cut something, and I'm so glad I did. I'll miss it, but not that much!

Blessings in the new year to you, 'cause it will go too fast.