A "Holy Gotcha Day"
I hate to admit this next part but it's the truth...Our church does an alter call almost every Sunday and because I grew up in a Christian home and attended a Christian school this practice of an alter call is such a regular thing to me that sometimes, more than I care to admit, I am not impacted by it the way I should be. But when I think of it in relation to my experience with Charlie's gotcha day, I am immediately humbled.
God our Father gets to celebrate Gotcha Days every day, he gets to have people all over the world make the decision to "be placed in His arms'. Whether you know it or not you are His, created by Him for His good pleasure but somewhere along the way you have to make the decision to believe, receive and follow Him. The day you do the Bible tells us "The Heavens rejoice" over you, because God loves you so much that He considered you worth dying for and when you get the revelation of what He did for you... How Sweet it is.
I think about the elation we felt that finally, finally Charlie was ours, he was part of our family. He will help shape and mold our family into something better. He brings with him his personality, wit and charm that add another dimension to our lives. We in turn as a family will help shape and mold his life too. In the same way we as Christians enter into a family with fellow believers on our Holy Gotcha Day. We now get a whole new support system, the "Body of Christ," which is full of talents, gifts and abilities that add flavor to our life's journey.
I am not sure I will look at an alter call the same again. When we realize that each one of us are children of God and that He is ecstatic when we enter His family, when I know that just like we longed for Charlie and grieved over how long the process took, He too grieves over his Children not yet "home" it gives me a new perspective on things. This stirs my spirit with an urgency, I have what others need, people searching for significance and value can find it in my family, in His family. And when they do, what a reason to rejoice every single time.
But we must be careful that we are being an example of the kind of family that people wish they were a part of, I know some days I am guilty of being a short tempered mom, that my thoughts or actions do not correctly display my deep love for my kids. Likewise, are we as Christians being light in a dark world? Are we displaying our Heavenly Fathers attributes of goodness and kindness? Not in our own strength, striving for perfection but rather letting go and letting Him work His abilities through us. Are our hearts broken by what breaks His or are we calloused to it. I hope I will no longer be, I pray that just as I celebrated my boy becoming ours, I can celebrate others becoming His because truly what could be more important in this life.
I have learned so much this year, struggled with a lot of emotions and I have been stretched as a mom, wife and Christ follower. This year has been different from what I expected but I am thankful that through it Jesus is meeting me every day with His Grace, sustaining me with His presence and growing me into what He wants me to be. I am also so thankful that Charlie is growing. His speech is beginning to increase and become more understandable. In the last few weeks he seems to be listening to explanations of why the answer is no or not right now rather than just immediately freaking out. He is funny! He completely gets silly behavior and loves it when we are goofy. He is smart! I am blown away at how much and how quickly he figures things out and I am truly humbled that Jesus decided to let his life story become part of my life story. Happy Gotcha Day Charlie John-Hanung, We sure do love you!
One Year ago and Today
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