May 2025

Are You In?

Life is often compared to a book—each day, a new page, every moment a line written into our story. For father and author Ryan Doughan, one chapter brought both unexpected challenge and immeasurable joy: the journey of adoption.

“It just feels like something is missing,” said Katie, Ryan’s wife. “I know this might sound crazy... but I think we need to consider adoption.” At the time, the Doughan’s were already a bustling family of six, raising four active kids. Their days were full, and their time a precious commodity. As a financial advisor, Ryan also felt the weight of the significant financial implications adoption could bring.

But something deeper was stirring. As Ryan spent time reading through the Psalms, he sensed God whispering a powerful message to his heart: “This is all mine. Stop having such a small vision of what I can do. If you are faithful in the next step, watch how I will show up.”

“Babies need families,” Ryan reflected. “And we realized there were babies out there we could connect with.” Adoption, they learned, is full of hurry-up-and-wait moments. They reviewed countless situations—stories of birth mothers in heartbreaking circumstances, often facing addiction or homelessness. At first, it was easy to distance themselves, especially from a conservative Christian lens. But God shifted their perspective.

Throughout the process, the Doughan’s prayed for the birth mothers and the children involved and saw God softening their hearts. “We began to see these mothers not through judgment, but with compassion,” Ryan shared. “It’s an act of tremendous love for a mom to choose adoption for her child. At first, we only saw the child, and the mother was secondary. But now we see her central role. It’s no longer possible to demonize someone who made such a courageous choice.”

Then, on October 14, 2022, the page turned again. Ryan had just returned from a high school cross country meet and was standing in line, picking up pizza for a group of teenage boys, when Katie called.

“A baby girl has been born,” she said. “We need to go to Phoenix, Arizona. Are you in?”

That baby girl was Monroe.

Now two years old, Monroe is a joy—spirited, fun, and full of life. “She’s incredible,” Ryan said. “Two-year-olds are wild and wonderful—full of stars and rainbows. But the journey to her wasn’t easy. We walked into adoption, knowing the road would be hard. There would be struggle and heartbreak. But we felt called to step out in faith—to put out our fleece and walk the path, trusting God to guide us.”

Even in moments of celebration—birthdays, Christmases—there’s a bittersweet ache. “There’s always joy in watching Monroe grow,” Ryan said, “but also sorrow for the mother who isn’t there. It’s a permanent wound. There are good reasons Monroe is with us, but we carry both the sweetness and the sorrow.”

“The gift of Jesus Christ is the most incredible gift we’ve ever received,” Ryan said. “But the gift of Monroe... it’s hard not to see that as the second greatest gift we’ve been given. And for that, we respond with deep gratitude to the Lord.”

Monroe’s story is a reminder to New Hope… when we say yes to Christ, whether it is to compassion in His name, to the messy beauty of adoption, or to something else we reflect the very heart of God—so here’s the question asked to each of us… Are you in?