This is a big week for me. Almost a decade ago I did something stupid. Something I was terrified to do. But because I did that thing that I was terrified to do next week I get to do something I’ve wanted to do my entire life. Something I’m extremely excited to do. Something that will be one of the biggest moments of my life.
Something so big that August 27th will be a holiday in my family forever.
Nine years ago
On this day nine years ago I did the scariest thing I’d ever done up to that point. I quit my job, packed a few boxes of clothes and stuffed them into the back of my truck and drove to California to start a new life. I had no job, no place to live, and no real plan. I was more terrified of moving away from my friends and family and everything I had ever known than I had ever been of anything in my life.
Nine years later
One week from today is the court date when we will officially adopt our oldest daughter from foster care. It occurs to me that if I hadn’t had the courage to move nine years ago, I wouldn’t have my daughter today. If I hadn’t had enough courage to attempt leaving the stability of everything I ever knew, I wouldn’t have earned enough courage to endure the difficult process that is foster care and adoption.
If I hadn’t had enough courage nine years ago to keep the pedal pressed down as the states passed in the rearview, I would never have the opportunity to drive her to family court in that same truck next week to give her my last name.
Courage multiplies
Courage isn’t about being fearless. Courage is moving forward in spite of your fear. I was so afraid that I cried all 1,700 miles from Memphis, Tennessee to Los Angeles, California. But those tears were an investment. My courage was an investment. And part of my investment will pay off next week when I officially adopt my firstborn daughter.
If you think about it, the small amount of courage that I was able to muster wasn’t for me, it was for my daughter. Because without that courage I would still be in Memphis with no chance of ever meeting a beautiful little baby girl in the Los Angeles county foster care system. Without that courage my life would look completely different. Without that courage I wouldn’t have my wife. Without that courage I wouldn’t have my family. Without that courage I would never know the little girl who is my absolute heart.
I don’t know what plans God has in store for you, but I do know that it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever find out without a little courage.
