To My Forever Daughter

Dear Jooniper,

This is your Dad.  I am writing this to you so that it can be read to you on your adoption day and any day that you need a reminder of just how much we love you.  I have been thinking for most of this past year that you have been with us that I wanted to write you a letter so that you have something to read each day on your birthday or your adoption day, and after thinking about it for so long, I decided to finally take the time to put my thoughts down on paper.  My hope is that you will read this from time to time to remember just how your mother and I feel towards you, and how much you have been prayed for by us and so many family and friends.  

I will never forget the day that we first heard of you.  It was February 2, 2015 and your mom received a call that there was a beautiful, healthy, 3 day old baby girl in a local hospital that needed a family to care for her.  We didn’t have long to decide, but we also didn’t need a long time to decide.  Your mom and I prayed and asked God to give us wisdom to know what to do, and as He always does, he granted us the wisdom to say yes to bring you into our lives and home.  I look back at those moments and thank God that he chose us to be your parents!  You were so small and fragile the first time I held you in that hospital, but we were in heaven just getting to hold you for those first few moments that we saw you.  I will never forget every feeling that flooded our hearts in those very moments.  We were all of the sudden parents and in love with you because of who you are, not because of what you had done.  Proud is the word I would use to describe how I felt in that very moment!

I will never forget the day you first smiled.  Or when you giggled so loudly at your mom when she played peek-a-boo with you.  Or when you rolled over, sat up, grabbed your own bottle to feed yourself, tasted real food for the first time, clapped your hands, said uh-oh a thousand times, cried because we told you no, pulled every towel out of the drawer, waved back at me, crawled to me when I walked in the door after work, or walked up to me and lifted your arms towards me begging me to pick you up.  None of these moments will ever be forgotten, and the ones yet to happen will be cherished the same way.  I know that your mom and I look forward with anticipation to every milestone, but I am sure that we will look at them with sadness to a certain degree because it will mean that our first child is growing up.  

Today is the day we get to adopt you.  This is a day that we have looked forward to since the first moment we were told of you.  Today a judge of the state of Georgia declared that legally you are a Smith.  You are the daughter of D and Christie!  Today all the rights and privileges of adoption have been given to you not because of what you have done, but because of who you are.  Today is a big day to say the least.  But it’s not the last big day that you will have.  There will be other big days to come like, going to school, graduating, getting your first job, falling in love, going overseas the first time, marriage, having your first child, etc…  There will be days of great joy, and there will be days of great sadness too.  Your mom and I will do our best to protect you from having too many sad days, but sad days are inevitable and honestly they make you a better person because it is in those moments that you will find out what you are made of, and they will strengthen your character immensely.  

Your mom and I have prayed for your adoption day since the moment we laid eyes on you, but we also are praying for the day in which you can experience an even greater adoption day.  The bible tells us that everyone eagerly awaits to be adopted by the Father of Heaven in Romans 8:23.  When Christ died on the cross 2000 years ago he paid the penalty of our sin (sin is what separates us from God) and took it upon himself.  He did so not because of what we have done, but because of his great love for us, his creation.  The story doesn’t end there though, 3 days after he died on the cross, he rose from the dead thus defeating death and sin once and for all and removing the barrier that separates us from the Father.  When Christ defeated death and sin, he opened the door for people who place their faith in him and his work to become sons and daughters through adoption into his family.  This adoption is not based on our good works, or character, but rather it is based on his redemptive plan and love for us, his creation (Ephesians 1:3-14).  

So you see, today is the day in which the government of the United States of America declares that you are ours legally.  You have every part of me, and I now have every part of you.  Today we rejoice!  Today we celebrate!  Today we cry tears of happiness because you have fullness in your legal relationship to your mother and I.  But today we look to future as well and long for the day when we will see God call you to your second adoption as his Daughter.  That day may come soon, or it could take time to come, but our prayer is that as much as you remember the day of your legal state adoption, that you will remember even more the day of your spiritual adoption.  Your mom and I have experienced those days in our life too.  For me, July 1992 at a Christian camp in California I stood up and recognized that I needed a savior and longed to be adopted into the family of God.  For your mom, January 20, 2004 she also stood up and recognized her need for a savior and was adopted into the family of God.  So you see we too have adoption days just like you!  So we pray that you will experience this as we have too.

I want you to know just how loved you are, and how you have been loved since the beginning.  Today we stand here surrounded by our family, friends, and loved ones and declare to all that you are now a Smith…forever!  A day that we will never forget!  Everyone here, and many others have joined in this journey with us, and with you.  Many have given generously, many have helped, many have prayed, and many have sacrificed to make this day possible for you and for us.  Without them we would not be here standing with you on this day.  Praise God that he has surrounded us with so many people!  

Jooniper Anne Smith, We love you so much, and we are eagerly await the lifetime of experiences that God has prepared in advance for us as a family…your forever family!

Love,

Mom and Dad