Parenting

Adoption – A Father’s Perspective Day 7: The New Normal, Revised Version “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1, ESV). When you adopt a 16-month-old girl, your “new normal” gets reset and revised many times. Unlike a biological child with your DNA, whom you have raised from birth, an adopted child often has…

Adoption – A Father’s Perspective Day 6: The New Normal “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, ESV). Nothing could have prepared me for the escalator ride. With Lacey in my arms and Cindy at my side, down we rode. First, I saw my nephew, Andrew, and one of our friends, Beth. Then I saw everyone, and they erupted in cheers. Then I saw Lexi and…

Adoption – A Father’s Perspective Day 5: New Beginnings “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5, ESV). Managing expectations. As we visualized our appointment at the Civil Affairs Office, we had to. We realized Lacey wouldn’t run into our arms crying “Mommy, Daddy!” The “Chariots of Fire” theme wasn’t going to play. As we looked into her crib at the hotel…

Adoption – A Father’s Perspective Day 4: And Away We Go! “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5, ESV). 2020 is being called the longest year ever. Personally, I would nominate the first seven months of 2012 for the title!…

Adoption – A Father’s Perspective Day 3: The Match “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16, ESV). We had been alerted that getting our match was a possibility before a break at Christmas time would hit. But we tried not to get our hopes up. So when my wife was talking to her brother Jeffrey and another call beeped in, the caller ID made her heartrate double: “Holt…

Adoption – A Father’s Perspective Day 2: The Waiting Game “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, ESV). The now disbanded House of Heroes released a music video in June 2011, just as we were deep in the paperwork process for adoption. The song was…

Adoption – A Father’s Perspective Day 1: Square One “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27, ESV). Steven. Curtis. Chapman. Those are three excellent words! On Thursday, March 21, 2002, he brought his Live Out Loud Tour to Charlotte, NC. For over three hours, my senses and my soul were pleasantly pummeled with a wall of stimuli:…