One Year Ago Today

It was one year ago today… a day that came “out of the blue” and changed my life forever, in more ways than I could ever have anticipated… I became a Dad.

My fist Father’s Day at Lake Geneva

Being a Dad has been my dream since I was a boy. Why? Well, I had a wonderful Dad, and he was my favorite person in the whole world, and I couldn’t wait to get to BE a Dad and be on the other end of the fun… inventing the adventures… creating the laughter… teaching the lessons of life. And while my dad was not perfect, he was real, and that was good enough for me. I hope that I too can be a real follower of Christ for my son, if not a perfect one.

Me with Luke, the day he was Given to me.

If I had been asked a year ago today what changes this little life would bring into my life, I would have never guessed how dramatically my life would change. I thought I could simply add “being a Dad” to an already critically over-loaded life. I was wrong. But I have learned my lesson, and am enjoying a balance in life like never before in nearly two decades of ministry.

Sara with Luke, the day I brought him home and said,
“CAN WE KEEP HIM?!?!?”

Sara has blossomed as a mom. I don’t know where she learned all the mom-stuff she suddenly knows! I know she surfs the web and we’ve got our stacks of parenting periodicals, but those can’t explain the instinctive answers she can give me every time this Dad says, “What should I feed him?” or “What’s he want now?” or “Why is he doing this?” I’m definitely the “fun” parent, and while I have a nack for getting him to sleep… on just about everything else Sara is the expert. (Not that I don’t help! But she is the expert on what he needs throughout the day)

Here we are, as a family, just moments after the adoption was final in court.

It’s been an adventurous year! God used this little baby to realign my entire life around my family. And oh the fun we have had along the way. Here are some of the links to the adventures I have posted throughout this past year:

• The First Announcement
• Baby Luke Video
• Historical Moment
• On Being a Father
• Newest Mom on the Block
• Baby Luke Does the Dew!
• Baby Luke Goes to Lukes
• My First Father’s Day
• Luke Goes Camping
• Luke’s Six Month Pictures
• By Popular Demand! More Pics!
• Luke Headed to Kid U!
• Luke Down a Giant Slide?
• Luke at the Pumpkin Patch
• Luke’s First Halloween
• Luke’s First Flight
• Luke’s Big Day in Court
• Happy Birthday Luke!
• Luke Learns to Drive

The Bastian Family, ready for another year together.

To celebrate this special day we had some friends over for dinner, and part of their punishment for being our friends was they had to watch a 15 minutes video of pictures of Luke over the past year. A download link of the video (110mb!) is available to any friend or family member who e-mails and asks for the link, rather than post it here for any web surfer who may come along.Yes, it has been a year of blessing, and a year of profound change, but we follow a God of Tomorrows and a God of Second Chances, and we eagerly look forward to what He has in store for this next year as we follow Him…

I am the man who
has seen affliction…
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great
love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The
LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
The LORD is good to those
whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:1,21-26