Hopes, Dreams, and Prayers

A family in China adopting a special needs toddler experienced a tragedy this last week. After the adoption had been completed and the family was in Guangzhou for the child’s visa, the father unexpectedly died. The mom is desperate to finish the adoption process and bring their new daughter home to America. At last report, after the intervention of congressmen and senators, they have obtained a visa for the child, and are headed for home. Our hearts go out to the mom, and all of the family. We have been praying for them, that this sorrowful loss would not mean the end of the new beginning hoped for by the adoptive dad for his new daughter.

From a dad’s perspective, I can testify that a father’s hopes and dreams for his children do not end when he dies. On the contrary, I believe that they continue on into the future, through space and time, and into eternity, like the light from a star that may have burned out long ago. When Becky and I were approved for adoption, the very first order of business for me was to take out more life insurance. There was an inner urging within me that I had another child on the way, and that I might not live to see her into adulthood.

When I am sitting on a church pew beside my grandkids, or feeding the catfish with them down at the pool, or enjoying a vacation outing with my daughters and their families, or when I have found a person in need that I can bless in some way, I know that I am living out the hopes and dreams that my Dad had for me. I feel his influence in everything that I do.

We pray for comfort and healing for this mom and loved ones. We pray for the daughter, that she will grow up knowing that a special dad invested all of his being to make her his daughter, and that he had hopes and dreams of a wonderful life for her. We pray that those hopes and dreams will be fulfilled for her in a joyful, abundant life.

Ronnie