Brave Love

He came from Honduras to pave a way in the United States of America, the land of opportunity.  He worked hard, he learned to speak, read and write English.  He taught his four children discipline, courage and perseverance. Through his personal example, we learned about our duty to love and serve others.  I have always admired my father.

My love and deep respect for his valiant and pure heart has grown over the last few years.  This chapter begins when my husband and I began our adoption journey.  We decided to meet with our parents to tell them about our decision to adopt.  We began with my mother and father in their living room one afternoon.  I will never forget my father's first response - to call on our God.  That afternoon, my dad led us in a sweet and powerful prayer; it was empowering.  It was the kind of prayer we needed to help carry us through the mountain of paper work, the waiting and the doubt that lied ahead.

Life does not always play out as we plan it.   The private adoption we prepared for did not occur.  Instead from one day to the next, my husband and I found ourselves answering "yes" to the call to become non relative care givers to an eleven year old boy.  This sweet boy needed the love and discipline of a father which he received from my one of a kind husband.  What I didn't expect was that our foster son would also receive the love, care and fun from a grandfather, a role my dear old dad took on so easily.  The picture of my father and foster son watching the sunset from their balcony still warms my heart.

A couple months into our induction to the foster are system, just as we officially became a licensed foster home, we received the call that we have been praying for... A healthy baby girl is waiting to be picked up from the hospital.   "Yes", we answered, with high expectations that as a resource home, we could one day become her forever family.  We all welcomed the sweet angel into our family.   My father assisted with diaper changes, feeding and rocking the princess to sleep when needed, but it was the moral and physical support that he provided us with while we navigated through the foster care system which has left a lasting impression on my life.

My dad, is a wise, praying man; he is discerning and brave.  He is compassionate and passionate when it comes to doing what is right to help and defend those who can not do so for themselves. He could see through my fear of the unknown and was always available to hear me talk through the new concerns and frustrations.  As my daddy, he insisted in accompanying me and our newborn to the agency twice a week so that our foster daughter could visit with her biological parents.  He needed to keep us safe.  The tough girl in me would have pushed through it on my own, but it meant the world to me to know that my father was there with me.  These visits were truly an emotional experience and potentially dangerous.  I think he knew that my "fearlessness" in this case was really nievity.  I believe that in the spiritual realm, he understood a lot more than I did about the battle the was truly taking place.

The fact that he was witness to what I saw was reassuring for me because when I questioned what I saw and reacted to it emotionally, he was there to help me process it.   I was not an overly empathetic female exaggerating things. He also understood things really are rough for our precious children and their families.  The dysfunctions and pain in our families became ever so real and incredible hard to process.   I made it through that season much in part because of his prayers and day to day support.

After our foster son returned to his home and we officially adopted our princess, my husband and I discussed fostering again (something we, honestly could not do without the super hero grandparents).  My dad understood clearly why being a family to a child in the foster care system is so very crucial for our society today.  He was the first to support our desire to foster a third child, even with the knowledge that we will fall in love with him or her and may, after a few months, have to dismiss the child back to his parent(s) or relative(s).  Without a doubt, it is hard to fall in love and then have to say goodbye, but that sacrifice foster parents and their support team make is nothing compared to the pain the children endure outside of a safe and loving home.   My husband and I can offer our home and hearts because of the support of my dear mother and father.

Today, I pray dad knows the impact he has made in the lives of his own biological children, but also those of his foster and adopted grandchildren.   He has always been and continues to be a mission driven man.  I honor my father for who he is and for who he continues to help us become.

Who are you needing to thank and honor this Father's Day?