Last weekend was a big one for our son Caleb. On Friday, March 14th, his adoption was finalized by the state of Florida. Caleb is "officially" our son. Then on Sunday I baptized Caleb. Below is a letter we wrote for him and read at church. As always, thank you for your continued prayers and support. This adoption was made possible by so many people besides ourselves. We are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude.
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| Our family with the Judge |
Dear Caleb Kyrie Dasinger,
We are so excited that today
is your baptism. Getting to this point has been an adventure to say the least.
Often times adoption is seen as something embarrassing or strange. We pray and
hope your adoption story is one that you take pride in. We fully realize that a
child being raised by their loving birth parents is plan A. We understand that
we are plan B and yet what an amazing privlege that is. Our God is good. He can take all
things and redeem them for good.
Your birth mom was not able
to take care of you and she made a very courageous decision in giving you to
us. We will be forever grateful for her decision. We want you to know that we
have been praying for you and thinking about you even before you were born. We want you to know that we fought hard to have you in
our family. You are worth every penny spent, every sleepless night, every mile
travelled, every piece of paper filled out, every phone call, every obstacle,
every hard day. Being your mommy and daddy is one of the greatest things
God has ever called us to. Having you as our son is a blessing beyond words.
As your
parents, we promise to love you and take care of you each and every day. We
hope to be great examples of compassion and grace. Your sister Kenzie was just
as excited to meet you as we were. She couldn’t wait to have a little brother. No
family is perfect, but we pray that our family will show God’s incredible power
and faithfulness.
You will also have an amazing
church family who will support you and pray for you as well. In fact, it is
your church family that helped make this adoption possible. The church is not perfect,
and being a pastor’s son will not always be easy. But hopefully you will see
and meet people who really love Jesus and really love you. Today you become a
part of God’s church family.
You will always be surrounded
by people who love you, but unfortunately you will also grow up in a fallen
world. We’re sorry that you may face mistreatment due solely to the color of your skin. We’re sorry people may think your family is odd or weird. We believe our
family is amazing. We believe our family reflects God’s kingdom…a kingdom that
includes every nation, race, and tribe. We’re sorry that you will grow up in a
culture that teaches men to be chauvinistic, prideful, and angry. Our culture
defines real men as cocky, arrogant, and egotistical. We hope and pray you will
become a Godly man. We hope you are selfless, compassionate, and kind. We hope
you are strong in the way you honor women and in the way you care for the least
of these. We hope you’re strong in your beliefs and that you will live by
faith. This is real strength.
We hope you find your
identity in God’s love for you. And this brings us back to this special day.
The baptismal covenant is God’s word to us, proclaiming our adoption into God’s
family by God’s grace. Baptism is a symbol of God’s love for you. It’s a
reminder that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. Life is an
up and down journey. It is filled with victories and defeats. Your baptism
declares that nothing can change God’s love and commitment to you. You are his
and he is yours. Follow him son.
Love,
Mom, Dad, and Kenzie
