“Today I have become your Father”

On 20 June 2024 at around midday, I received the exciting news that I have become a father! We received a call from the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) in Lusaka informing us that we have been matched with a 6-month old baby boy named ‘Hope Moses’! Wow! This was the most exciting news I have ever heard! This meant that our adoption application process was now at a climactic moment.

I became a father

Renée and I headed to the DSW to pick up the official letter that declared that we can begin the process of bonding with our son. While we were our way to collect the letter, we were excitedly discussing how we were going to prepare the room for him, options for schooling, and how we were going to raise funds to support him and help him to thrive. We had clearly become parents on this significant day. We had not yet even met our son, but I could feel a clear change had occurred in my psychological makeup. I was now a father.

Having collected our letter which imbued us with parental identity, we headed directly to The House of Moses to meet our son. The House of Moses is the child-care facility where ‘Hope Moses’ is being cared for. We handed over the letter to the carers and they handed over to us our son.

As I met this handsome cute little boy, he seemed to be mildly confused as to who these strange people were. I held him in my arms and said to him, “You are my son. Today I have become your father”. I told him, “You now have a forever home”, “We are not going anywhere, we’re here to stay”. I’m sure he couldn’t understand what I was saying, but it was also for me that I said those words.

I am a father and a son of God

It was at this point that I was awestruck as I remembered the words of Psalm 2 which I had read that very morning: “You are my son. Today I have become your father” (Psalm 2:7, CSB).

Wow! I am astounded at the majesty and sovereignty of God!

I read Psalm 2 earlier that day in my morning devotions. This led me to ponder the multi-faceted applications of these words. And now in the evening I had an extra layer of meaning added to this rich text.

In the morning, I pondered how these words applied to both David as well as to Jesus. This led me to consider how these words even may have an application to myself. Indeed, in 2005 when I put my faith in Jesus and became a son of God!

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”

John 1:12 (ESV)

Now, as I was holding my 6-month old son in my arms, I could say to him:

“You are my son. Today, I have become your father”.

This was a huge blessing to me as I realised that Adoption was God’s plan for us all along!