Nothing Short of Incredible

by LISA PORTERFIELD THOMPSON

yric and Michael Searles are not from Texarkana. In fact, he thinks of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as his home, and she grew up in Tucson, Arizona. So, it might seem as if finding the couple here in Texarkana, raising a family and leading a busy, fulfilling life is a bit of an anomaly. But then again, there are a lot of coincidences in the Searles’ story.

Michael, one of 11 children in a blended family, says he lived all over growing up. “I graduated high school in 2007,” Michael said. “After high school, I moved to Texarkana to go to Texas A&M University-Texarkana and pursue a degree in Political Science.” Michael was in the first group of resident assistants in the dormitories at TAMU-T.

It was on a church retreat, for the same group that the couple now oversees, that Michael met Lyric in 2010. Lyric is the oldest of three children, her brother and sister are 15 and 16 years younger than she. In 2010, Lyric moved from Tucson to Texarkana to live with her grandparents and attend Texarkana College and TAMU-T. “It took a few months for Michael to finally ask me out,” Lyric said. “But we started seeing other in May of 2011 and were engaged by the new year. We got married in October of 2012 on an unexpectedly cold day.”

Lyric recalls that most of her bridal party wore shorter knee-length dresses and were left to brave the cold snap without being prepared. “It was a great, chilly fall day,” she said. “We had friends from all over the country that came to share our special day with us.”

LThe Searles have not always been in Texarkana, but feel that God’s divine guidance has led them here to settle down. “We both grew up on opposite sides of the country,” Lyric said, “but somehow found ourselves here. We moved away for two years after we got married, but felt like someday we would end up back here. God has planted us here, and that’s where we plan on staying until we hear otherwise!” Lyric and Michael are actively involved in their church, Church on the Rock, where they both serve on staff. Michael focuses on online ministries, while Lyric works in kids ministry and together, they oversee Connection, the young adult ministry. They have served together in international missions and recently have even shared their testimony about infertility with the congregation. “Just a few months before our wedding, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS),” Lyric said. “One of the symptoms affected my body’s ability to ovulate.” Lyric and Michael tried for seven years to have a baby to no avail. The couple tried every avenue to conceive, and to help Lyric’s body regulate itself. “Every time someone would ask us, ‘When are you gonna have a

baby?’ it was like a knife in our hearts,” she recalls. “My biggest piece of advice to other couples experiencing infertility would be not to keep it a secret. Once we put aside our hurt, shame and embarrassment and shared our struggle with the people that care most about us, everything became so much easier.” Lyric said their loved ones began to partner with them in prayer and helped carry their burden. “The hardest part was knowing there was nothing we could do to make it happen,” Lyric said. “We tried everything ... all natural solutions, prescription drugs, changed our diet, exercise and on and on. We prayed, we cried, we did everything we could do and still nothing. “I heard someone say once that couples choose when to make love, but God chooses when to make life, and that was a huge comfort and anchor for us during this long, long journey,” Lyric said. She quoted Hebrews 6:19 as a source of comfort. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

“That hope, Peter calls it a LIVING hope in 1 Peter 1, is Jesus Christ. And while that is true for all of life’s trials, it is even more pronounced when I think about our situation. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of a baby that should have never been born. Scientifically speaking, Jesus’ life was not possible. A virgin can’t give birth! And yet, the facts remain that, against all odds, this impossible baby was born. So in our darkest moments, we could always look to Jesus and see that all things are truly possible for God,” Lyric said.

In February of 2019, it seemed as if the darkest days were over for the Searles. “I started to feel lethargic for a few weeks, and also missed work due to severe nausea,” Lyric said. “I took a pregnancy test, and it came back positive. We went to First Choice Pregnancy Center here in Texarkana to get a ‘real’ test done because

I couldn’t wait for my appointment with the doctor. When it came back positive, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

Two weeks later at the eight-week ultrasound, Lyric and Michael were told they had lost their baby.

Later that year, the couple got pregnant again. But again, they lost the baby around eight weeks. Finally, in early 2021, they found out they were expecting again, and this time Lyric carried the baby full-term. Fisher Oak Searles was born on August 15, 2021. He’s now a 15-month-old bouncing baby boy. While life as parents has brought with it all the things firsttime parents look forward to, Lyric and Michael have also had to face some challenges that were unexpected. While Fisher was born full-term, he spent the first six weeks of his life in the NICU, struggling to eat and regulate his body temperature. This led Michael and Lyric to begin testing and seeing specialists to address some of their baby’s challenges. At 7 months old, Fisher was diagnosed with a super rare genetic condition called Coffin-Siris Syndrome (CSS). This genetic condition affects many of his physical and cognitive functions, has caused hearing loss, a hole in his right eye, a malformation in his ureter that had to be surgically repaired, and more. “We don’t really know what the future holds for our family,” Lyric said, “but we’re excited to see what Fisher does.” The Searles’ faith is nothing short of incredible. The number of obstacles and trials they have endured together in a relatively short time is enough to make anyone cower, and yet they stand strong, assured and confident in their faith and in their family.