I Still Gotcha

Jude - 

I can so vividly recall walking through alleys and stepping over puddles on the half-paved backstreets of Guangzhou.  I was sweating, but that had more to do with anxious anticipation than the humid Chinese air.  We hustled into an ordinary looking building, jumped on an elevator and came around a corner.  There you were.  Beautiful. Smiling. Wobbly on your feet.  Playful. Perfect.  My son.

A year ago today you entered our world and life instantly changed forever.  Today we celebrate your "Gotcha Day" and I celebrate a year of being your Daddy.  I cannot thank you enough for the joy you have brought into our home over the past twelve months.  Your laugh, your expressive face, your incredibly lovable personality (and who can resist those dimples).  It is hard for me to believe that just a little more than 300 days ago we had never met.  I can not remember life before you and without question God matched us long before that day last March.  

I praise Him for grafting you so seamlessly into our family. I thank Him for the way you try to say my name.  For the way you get excited and squeal when I walk through the front door.  For the way you turned and gave me a kiss for no reason earlier tonight.  I praise Him for letting me be your Daddy.  Oh what an honor it is to get to be that person to Jude.  Simply put, my heart overflows with love for you and always will.

It's been an incredible year.  Can you even imagine what the future holds? I can't wait to see.

Love,

Dad

(Holding my son at his finding spot in Zhongshan, Guangdong)