Autobiography

As I'm starting to fill out the paperwork for the home study, one of the biggest documents is the autobiography. 12 pages of questions about yourself; from where were you born, to how did you and your spouse meet, to what are your motivations for adopting, to how do you resolve conflicts with your children? As you move further along in the questionnaire the questions get "harder" and more personal. I'm only on page 1 question 4 and I'm already stumbling.
"Are your parents still living? If not, how old were you when they died?"
My answer: "My dad was killed in a motorcycle accident when I was sixteen years old."
This fact is not new to me; obviously. But, the fact that I have to physically write that down, makes me realize how hard it is that my dad is not here to see us take on such an exciting, challenging yet rewarding process. Gabriel and I are in fact taking on the same calling my parents did when they welcomed me and my brothers into their home. If it weren't for my dad coming home one day saying "Well, lets put down boy OR girl on the paperwork", I might not have ever had the privilege to become his daughter. They were planning on adopting another son, but something special happened that day, he was able to help a little lost girl find her mother, and because of that, his heart and mind was changed.

Thank you Lord for sending that little girl into his life at that exact moment. Thank you for allowing him to help her out and to place that possible desire for a daughter on his heart. Thank you Lord for my father and the amazing man he was for my family, all his students and the community. Even though he can't be here today to love on his grandchildren, I thank you Lord for placing him in my life and for all the wonderful memories that no matter what, can't be taken away from me.

~Susan