GOTCHA DAY

In adoption circles, "gotcha day" is the day you got your child. Not a very creative term, but it gets to the point. Well, it was one year ago today that Dawn, Liz, Will and I stepped into a non descript building and went to the 9th or 10th floor and saw two ladies walk on the other side of the room and into a private room with a kid whose head was shaved but had a pony tail. I'm thinking, must be some other families child because the picture we had of Shan An En looked nothing like that. I was wrong. He was our child and that was the first of many new things we were going to learn about "En En", or Sean.

It's certainly been a good year and we see God's hand in bringing Sean to our family. It's been a hard year too. For Dawn it's been about adjusting to having a 2-3 year old in the house again, dealing with his every want. Out of a sense of insecurity, Sean likes ritual and routine, so it is Dawn who has to lay down with him every night. He won't let me. For me, it's about overcoming selfishness...an on-going task. We were on track to get the first two kids old enough to be independent so Dawn and I could have our own time together. We did a lot of things together as a family, like go to movies and sporting events, or staying up late as a family watching TV. That's all changed. Now, it may be Will and I do something, or Liz and Dawn, sometimesSean, Will and me, but no girls, or Liz, Will and I. It's changed, but that's OK. We still do vacations together, but were back to having to pack a stroller, or ask for a child's seat at the restaurant. And we have to watch our time around 12:00 noon since that's nap time, and 10:00 pm seems late again.

Still, none of us would trade not having Sean. We are reminded often what life may have been like for Sean had no one adopted him, and it makes me sad. We count it a privilege to raise, nurture and shape Sean, hoping he someday becomes a Godly person with a future. We find new life in verses like Psalm 68:5 that say God places the lonely in families...yet wish more people would take up the offer and challenge of James 1:27...and engage themselves with alleviating the suffering of others, chief among them widows and orphans, knowing this truly pleases God.
Today is just another normal day for Sean...just as it should be.