A Letter to My Daughter on Adoption Day

Dear CeCe,

We have waited 509 days to celebrate this day. Oh Happy Day!

Before you came into our family we prayed that God would bring us the child who was the perfect fit for our family, and He answered this prayer more abundantly than we could ever have imagined. You are flexible, easy-going, and happy, yet just mischievous enough to keep up with our Wild Oates.

Some people say we rescued you, but the fact is you rescued us.

You rescued us from our selfish, self-centered, picture-perfect lives.
You rescued us from our constant pursuit for safety, security, and predictability.
You rescued me from my need for control.
You rescued me from my Type-A need for a plan.

CeCe, your dad and I are big believers in education (believe me, we had a lot of student loan debt to prove it.) But throughout our 509-day journey, you taught us more than we could have learned in any college classroom, from any highbrow professor, or by reading any profound, New York Times best-selling book. In your short little life you have already taught us:

that the world and its problems are complex.

that everyone deserves empathy, even if at first glance it looks like they deserve judgment.

that everyone has a backstory, often filled with hurt and pain.

to take risks, even when they don’t make sense, even when we are scared, even when people question our decisions, even when we question ourselves.

to trust God more than we trust logic, more than we trust other people, and more than we trust ourselves.

to love deeply, even when it causes us pain. Love always wins.

God chose some very important people to fly to the moon, to become doctors and teachers, and to defend our country. But He didn’t ask me to do any of those things because He needed me to available for an even more important job . . . God needed me to be your mom. And you are in luck because your brothers and sister were just my practice run. I made all my mistakes on them so surely I’ve got this parenting thing down by now.

Being your mom is a calling I will never take for granted. I will always thank God that He looked out into the great, wide world, that He looked at all the potential moms available, and He chose me to be your mom. I don’t know why He chose me, but I know I won’t ever forget that He did. What a privilege!

From the moment you came into our family we prayed that God would break the cycle of sin, poverty and dysfunction in your family tree. Now we hold courtside seats for the rest of your life as we watch God’s answer to this prayer unfold. For the rest of your life I will watch God’s promise of restoration play out. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and wonder.

Watch closely: I am preparing something new;

it’s happening now, even as I speak,

and you’re about to see it.

I am preparing a way through the desert;

Waters will flow where there had been none.

– Isaiah 43:19, The Voice