Ali Kistler's Testimony

I grew up in the small town of Bishop Ca. where I developed my love for animals. From a young age, I was involved in 4-H and then FFA in high school. I learned to care for, breed, and show rabbits, sheep, cows, and pigs. I also rode horses and started show jumping in 4-H. I also volunteered at a ranch called Freedom in Motion (similar to Happy Trails) and got to ride after putting in a few hours of work cleaning pastures or leading horses in the arena. When I was in middle school we started going to church regularly. When I was 13 I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and was baptized. I was involved in the youth group, and I formed a couple of the strongest friendships that I still have to this day. When I was a sophomore in high school, my whole life changed. Up to this point I had lived in the same town with mostly the same people. Not a whole lot had ever changed in my life, even the day to day was similar. My grandparents owned a restaurant so a lot of free time was spent there. My brother was a great athlete, so when we weren’t at the restaurant we were at a ball field or gym watching him play. As far as I knew life was good. My dad had been sick most of his life. At the age of 13 he received his first of two kidney transplants. He lost that kidney shortly after high school and was on dialysis for some time before receiving his second transplant. He never tried to hide his illness from us, but looking back he also never let us see the tole it was taking on his body and mind. He never let us see the daily struggles or all the aches and pains. He genuinely loved life and was thankful to be able to see his kids grow up. The summer after my sophomore year we moved from the only home I had ever known. We moved to a town called Yucca Valley. I cried… For weeks. It was desert, there wasn’t any grass, there was no FFA at the high school I was attending, and no horses to be seen for miles! It was not where I wanted to be. My brother and I ended up going to a Christian high school where we would also end up attending church and youth group. I made some friends, and after a few weeks it wasn’t so bad. I still missed the animals, but I joined the softball team and that kept me busy. Sometime around Thanksgiving break of that year, I remember cooking dinner with my dad. We were cooking our favorite meal, fajitas, and the house smelled amazing. I remember he sat me and my brother down just before we ate and he told us that he wasn’t going to live forever and he had a few things he wanted to instill in us. He told us he knows he wouldn’t make it to his 50th birthday. I’m not exactly sure how my brother took that information, but I know for me I didn’t really understand what he meant. I was really confused, how did he know he wouldn’t make it? After all it was less than ten years away. He felt his health wouldn’t hold up much longer, and later on that year and into the next my dad’s health started to visually decline. Up to this point, he was always active, refereeing football and baseball, always helping my brother and I practice for our sports. My brother and my dad played basketball or tossed a ball around almost every day. Alison Kistler
By the next summer my dad had to go to specialists for his knees and shoulders because he was in so much pain and they started talking about replacements. That was the summer he got transferred to Tulare for his job. We ended up moving to Visalia three days before school started in 2006. Talk about culture shock. I was attending El Diamante for my senior year, knowing absolutely no one, in a school that seemed to be the size of my hometown! I was not happy. I eventually made some friends but it was a struggle. I didn’t try that hard because I was planning to go back to Bishop and live with my grandparents to graduate with my friends, however that didn’t work out. My grandparents ended up moving to Visalia that January. They bought five acres in the country, and within a couple months we had several goats. We had been searching for a church to call home and had tried out several different ones but there was always something that didn’t quite fit for us. We eventually tried Parkside, and that’s where we have been ever since. I graduated from El Diamante in June of 2007. That same summer Pete and Suzie Kistler started their Bible study. In August, my dad was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome. It was explained to me as precursor to Leukemia and was due to all the anti-rejection medications he had been taking everyday since he was 13. My dad was always open about his faith and always encouraged us to pursue our faith and, as a result, encouraged me to attend Church and Bible Study at the Kistler’s. Well me, now being a college student and trying to find my own path I didn’t think I needed to attend. I was still trying to understand why, if God loved me and wanted me to be happy, why would he pull me away from all my friends that I grew up with and why was my dad sick? I started on my “rebellious” path. I was so lost and confused. On December 17, 2007 he went to UCSF to meet with his Kidney Doctors. They started the process to find a match to do a bone marrow transplant and admitted my dad to the hospital there at the University. My Aunt, his sister was a match. They started the process. I remember sitting in the hospital for days at a time praying, but it never got any better. I became more and more angry and now resentful. I was praying my heart out, but I didn’t think God was listening to me. How could God take my dad, my Superman, away from me. Every girl needs her dad to be there for her future, for her wedding, to see her have her own family, and more than that, dad needed to be there to see my brother graduate high school and play college ball. We spent Christmas and New Years in the hospital and he was quickly declining. Dad had been in and out of the ICU a few times, and the doctors were running out of things they could do to help him. On January 10, 2008 my brother and I got a phone call that my mom and grandma were going to remove the life support. There wasn’t any brain function left and there was nothing more that could be done. I was so hurt and so angry. My dad was gone and I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I was so mad with God, and I didn’t want to believe that any of this could be a divine plan. How could it be? Little did I know that through this tragedy, so many good things would happen within a few short years. At my dad’s memorial service, my grandpa got to talking to My now father-in-law and I ended up getting a job at his Veterinarians office. The months passed and I again started hanging out with the people that didn’t encourage the best in me and avoiding Church and Bible study.
I started to feel really convicted for not attending Church and Bible study. I also felt like I was treading water in life and school. This cycle went on for a couple years. During this time, my mom and I began to fight a lot, and she eventually moved to Oklahoma with her sister. I ended up moving out to live with my grandparents. I eventually got into a really unhealthy relationship with a man that lasted longer than it should have. Luckily, my grandparents were a positive influence and encouraged me to attend Church and Bible Study on a regular basis. I left my job and the Veterinarians Office and started working for the Sheriff’s Department. I moved into an apartment with a friend who attended the Bible study at the Kistler’s. With her help and support, along with my grandparents, I was able to get out of the relationship and started going to Church and Bible study again regularly. I was truly content with what God was doing in my life, and I started my relationship with God again. I finally had a peace about what happened with my dad and how the things I think are bad can actually be used to help me in ways I couldn't imagine. I had just had a conversation with my roommate about being content with my life, being single, living in the apartment, I had a decent job, and above all I had a relationship with Jesus again. Then the next thing I knew there were several people at work telling me to promote to a Correctional Deputy, I prayed for a few weeks and felt like God was giving me the go ahead. Shortly after I started the process to promote, a certain someone started showing interest in dating me. At first, I was kind of upset about it, I was finally content with being myself. I prayed a lot about this situation and shrugged it off for almost a year. Well, the day before I graduated the Academy we officially started dating. God has been so gracious and has blessed me beyond what I could have ever dreamed with this guy. Adam Kistler proposed to me in April 2015. We got married November 2016 and we are expecting a baby girl in early October 2017. Before we got married we talked about kids and decided that I would probably quit my job because of the hours and we felt like God was calling me to stay home with them hopefully until they go to school. We decided I would quit in December. In January, while scrolling through Facebook every day, because I had nothing better to do, I kept seeing posts from Aaron and Crown Valley Youth Ranch. I felt a tugging at my heart and decided to message Aaron. He messaged back soon after and said he would get in contact with me the next week to discuss volunteering. I decided I was just going to drive out and see what it’s all about. I showed up and surprised Aaron and we sat down and he explained what goes on at the ranch and I was sold. God placed CVYR on my heart. Shortly after starting Aaron and Scott assigned me to the Petting Zoo. Looking back I have been so blessed to have come to the ranch when I did. God has truly allowed me to grow and thrive with the amazing family that I have found here.