More Than Before
When You Can’t Fix It: Kiel Harvey on Losing His Daughter, Faith & Sanfilippo Syndrome
What happens when you’ve spent your life believing hard work can solve almost anything—and then you face the one thing you cannot fix? In this episode of More Than Before , I sit down with my longtime friend Kiel F. Harvey for a deeply personal conversation about fatherhood, grief, faith, and losing his daughter, Raelin, to Sanfilippo syndrome Type A (MPS IIIA) . Kiel shares his story from growing up in Oregon and struggling in school, to Bible college, losing his best friend, building a career in sales, getting married, and becoming a father. Then life changed. After years of developmental concerns, specialists, and unanswered questions, Kiel and his wife, Stacey, learned that their youngest daughter had Sanfilippo syndrome—a rare, progressive genetic disease. Kiel immediately went into problem-solving mode. He researched doctors, pursued clinical trials, traveled to specialists, and searched for anything that might save his daughter. Eventually, one of the leading specialists told him something he never expected: Go home. Love your daughter. Spend as much time with her as you can. Raelin passed away at eight years old. This conversation is about what happens when faith meets a problem you cannot solve. Kiel shares what it was like to pray for healing that did not come, how Raelin changed his definition of success, why she forced him to slow down, and what he now believes about service, suffering, purpose, and the Kingdom of God. One of the most powerful lessons from this conversation is simple: Sometimes you cannot fix the problem. But you can still show up. You can still love people. You can still serve. And you can still make something better. Chapters 00:00 – Meet Kiel Harvey 04:12 – Growing Up in Oregon 12:13 – Bible College and Early Adulthood 15:25 – Losing His Best Friend 20:21 – How Kiel and Stacey Got Together 27:29 – Becoming a Father 34:46 – The Grandfather Who Shaped Him 41:52 – Career, Family and Success 45:46 – Raelin Enters the Story 50:01 – Something Wasn’t Right 54:32 – The Initial Autism Diagnosis 59:15 – Searching for Answers 1:03:48 – The Night Kiel Felt Called to Pray 1:08:25 – Discovering Sanfilippo Syndrome 1:12:09 – “My Daughter Is Not Going to Die” 1:14:06 – “Go Home and Love Your Daughter” 1:17:15 – Living With a Terminal Diagnosis 1:21:06 – Raelin’s Final Months 1:23:23 – How Do You Keep Your Faith? 1:29:30 – Why Does God Allow Suffering? 1:32:01 – Hope Beyond Death 1:34:34 – Stop Fixing. Start Being Present. 1:36:37 – When Success Stops Mattering 1:41:49 – How Raelin Changed Kiel 1:42:50 – What She Taught Him About God’s Kingdom 1:53:54 – What More Than Before Means to Kiel 1:57:44 – “I Can’t Fix It, But I Can Make It Better” 2:02:17 – Closing Connect With Kiel From The Source Kiel’s Bible study workbook designed to help people learn how to study Scripture for themselves. https://kielharveybooks.com RockReader Bible reading, study, journaling, and discipleship resources. https://rockreader.com Kiel’s Substack – Upon Further Examination https://kielharvey.substack.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kielfharvey Learn More About Sanfilippo Syndrome Raelin’s Story – National MPS Society https://mpssociety.org/en/living-with-courage/raelin/ Cure Sanfilippo Foundation https://curesanfilippofoundation.org National Organization for Rare Disorders https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/mucopolysaccharidosis-type-iii/ More Than Before More Than Before is about becoming more of who God created you to be so you can be more, see more, and experience more than before. https://www.morethanbefore.org SEO Keywords: Kiel Harvey, Kiel F. Harvey, Sanfilippo syndrome, MPS IIIA, Raelin Harvey, grief and faith, losing a child, Christian grief, faith after loss, rare disease, special needs parenting, fatherhood, unanswered prayer, Christian podcast, More Than Before podcast
