My story began in Romania with a 19-year-old unwed girl who wasn’t able to take care of me.

The Lord sovereignly chose adoption for me. I am blessed that a man and a woman from the United States made a decision that radically altered my life forever when they traveled across the world and chose me as their daughter. In honor of Father’s Day, I share this letter to my adopted dad.

Dearest Daddy,

As America pauses to celebrate Father’s Day this Sunday, I acknowledge the painful reality that this holiday is difficult for many because of the absence of strong, godly fathers.

But the Lord has seen fit to bless me with one of the greatest men I know to be my Daddy—you! While biology says you weren’t my original father, love says something else. Blood is the least of what makes a family.

Godly love is the real lifeblood of a family. You have loved me like God the Father loved me. A lot of people ask if I’m interested in meeting my “real” dad. What they mean is, “Do you want to meet your biological dad?”

Dad, they just don’t seem to get it, do they?!

You are the one who traveled across the world to search me out. You are the one who gave up a comfortable life in order to give me a life. You are the one who rescued me.

I was an orphan, and you chose to call me your own.

I was fatherless, and you chose to be my father.

But most important, you’ve chosen to love me.

You chose to love me the day you saw me and said, “That girl is mine! She’s my little girl now!” And you’ve chosen to love me every day since. I know that many times I haven’t been lovable, but I am your daughter, so you have committed to loving me well, even though I don’t deserve it.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
1 John 3:1

The most precious gift in my life is the heavenly Father choosing me, calling me His, and loving me. You have done the exact same thing. You have modeled the effects of the gospel to me. Because of your choice to adopt me and love me, I have a physical taste of what my spiritual adoption is like.

More important than adopting me and loving me, you have taught me the gospel with your words and illustrated it with your deeds, and as a result my eternity will be spent with our beloved Savior. You are an incredible father, and I am blessed beyond measure that you are the man the Lord saw fit to place in my life.

Thank you for attending all of my ballet recitals as a little girl. Thank you for discipling me and teaching me the godly way to live. Thank you for making sure that I heard the gospel regularly taught and saw it lived out.

Thank you for allowing me to pour my heart out over a cup of coffee. Thank you for working hard to provide for the family. Thank you for being selfless.

Thank you for being my daddy.

Love,
Your daughter