Day 3 -- An open letter to Emily from her dad

Emily,

In a few short hours we will meet each other for the first time.  You will have no memory of this moment.  Your mother, father and brothers, however, will never forget it.  We have been waiting to meet you for a very long time.

Events in your life that none of us wish had happened ultimately brought us together.  As you grow and wrestle with your past, I hope deep inside the love we will have shared throughout the years overshadows the longing for answers to questions that can never be answered.  The one thing I can say for sure is that God had a different plan for your life that led you to us and us to you. 

I am writing this letter to you from the country where you were born.  It is a beautiful country filled with great people.  It is very different from the place where you have grown up.  We are taking it all in so that we can share our experiences here with you.

By the time you read this letter, we will have been a family for many years.  We will have shared many moments together.  We will have seen your first step, heard your first word, chased you around the house, picked you up when you have fallen down, laughed with you and cried with you.  We will have had some good days and some days that were not so good.  I will treasure all of these days.

Well this is it….both of our lives are about to be forever changed.

You are loved!

Dad