Date Night (or Finding your Place)

We have been working really hard to get a little bit of a handle on raising all these girls and meeting the very high needs of each of them. One of the things that we are building in is "daddy date night:"

Saturday night was Cami's turns - and dad took her to an Angels game. She and Doug have a little ritual very night after the two littles go to bed, they watch some baseball together. I suspect that she cares more about staying up alter than her sisters as opposed to the actual game - but whatever! 

Anyone who has ever been to a game with Doug knows it's free time there! She had nachos and ice cream of of course cotton candy!! It is, after all, date night! 

It was a little over whelming for her, but it gave Doug a real chance to step in and provide safety while having fun - a perfect balance!! 

Daddy date night could otherwise be titled "Finding your Place". That's what it's all about right now for each of us - finding out who we are all in our new family structure. Daddy date night is a part of that process - it's about where a beloved daughter fits into her place in daddy's heart.  

So much of an adopted child's journey is finding their place- in their new home, their new country, their new community, their new church, their new school - but mostly in their new family.

This certainly has been the case for Cami as she discovers where her place is as a daughter, a big sister, a little sister, a granddaughter. It is not an easy journey as it often requires that she transcend beliefs she has held about herself. Things about herself that she has learned may not longer be true - replaced with new truths. These truths are deeply ingrained in every fiber of her being; they are imprinted in her very cell structure. They are not easily erased with a word or two. Where does she fit in?

It has also awakened that journey for Becky and Katie - who they are now in our family with a new big sister. They are navigating a change in their position in our family. It's hard for them - they did not ask to have to find a new place. Where do they fit in now? 

There is a lot of "finding my place" going on - my dad's new wife is trying to find her place in our family - a difficult task to enter into a well established and complex 50 year father-daughter relationship! Where does she fit in?

When I look at my journey as an adopted child of God, I realized that so much of it also is tied into "finding my place". My place in the world without Jesus looked very different from my place in the world with Him at my side.

Without Jesus my place was "about me".

Without Jesus, my place looked to the world for validation,

Without Jesus, my place was unsteady - circumstances in my life dictated my joy.

With Jesus - the only thing that is "about me" is how God refines me to move closer to His Him so that I may serve others. 

With Jesus - my eyes rest on Him for approval

WIth Jesus - my hope and joy are found in Him, not in the circumstances of my life.

FInding our place - where do we fit in? 

Have you had a daddy date night with your Heavenly Father lately?