Gotcha Day!

It was April 1st, 2006. But it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke. It was an answer to prayer. Only I didn’t know it at the time. But God was about to do a miracle. My wife and I had been unable to have children for thirteen years. Adoption was often brought up to us by caring friends and family members, and while we were never against it, we hadn’t yet come to the place where we felt ready to actively pursue it. We didn’t want adoption to be a “Plan B” in order to have children. If we were to adopt, we wanted it to be Plan A – something God clearly brought into our lives by divine appointment. As mentioned in the story about the Rases, God was beginning for form that desire.

In fact, God moved me in an amazing way the evening before April 1st. We had been remodeling our church children’s ministry during spring break that year (see This Old Church Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4) working for hour every day with the plan for me to work all day Saturday doing a week’s worth of job to prepare for Sunday. For some odd reason that makes NO sense, other than the Spirit of God (as it was not like me) I said to my wife at the end of the long tiring day, “I’d like to work late tonight and pretend it is Saturday so I can just be home all day tomorrow if you don’t mind.” She agreed be exhausted herself from painting all week and I ended up being at church until the wee hours getting ready for church on Sunday morning. I drove home early the following morning and collapsed into bed having no idea that my life was about to change forever.

Saturday morning I was sleeping in when the phone rang. It was a phone call that would forever change my life. A phone call that would make me a father in less than twenty-four hours. A phone call that would  transform my wife into a mommy. A phone call that would open a whole new world to me… a wonderful world in which I carry the awesome title of “Daddy.”

After several weeks I finally was able to announce it here on my blog with a post: Most Useless Household Appliance

HUNDREDS of you signed up for a prayer updates e-mail list and prayed with us through the long legal process and celebrated with us when the adoption was finalized nine months later. Many of you even donated to Baby Luke’s legal expenses. We were so blessed and encouraged by your wonderful support and concern for our family. I am always amazed when I come to various conferences or come to speak at a church and people ask, “How is Luke doing?” He is such a blessed little boy to have so many people who have prayed for him and participated in his journey. He is so loved. Not only by his mother and father and all his relatives and church family and the many who were a part of his adoptive journey, but even by his birth mom who loved him so much she put his needs above her own to give him up to a home where he could have a mom and dad to love him and raise him in a home where he is the center of attention. She gave him such a wonderful life long gift. We know that he will be as grateful to her someday as we are.

Yesterday we celebrated our “Gotcha Day” – the day Luke entered our home. We took Luke to an indoor water park since water is his favorite thing.

lukewaterstance.jpg

and then out to eat. He sure loves his daddy.  He’s grown up a lot in the last two years! But’s he’s still my little buck-a-roo!

greatestdad2008.jpg

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

4 Comments:

  1. Karl, Congratulations to you and Sara as you continue to celebrate your “Gotcha Day.” I am so glad that you are loving having a son. We continue to rejoice at what God had done for you all. This is a special time to party. Barney

  2. Hi Karl and Sara Aww!! I’m getting teary eyed! Give Luke a kiss and hug from his great Aunt. I love you all. Remember your “gotcha day” is the same day I got Andy so it had to be a great day!!! Love and prayers, Aunt Linda xoxo

  3. Congrats to you Karl and to Sara on this true day of happiness and joy. also on this awesome day of realizing that God has truly blessed you and Sara with a true buck-a-roo. Enjoy every minute and always watch for the little and big things that he blesses you and your wifes life with. :)

  4. What a great story!

Comments are closed