As some of you are aware, Heather and I had a daughter who passed away after complications from heart surgery.
Today is her birthday. K.D. (Katherine Diane) would have been twelve years old today. Wow.
A few days ago, I posted a journal entry from when Brittany was born. It was an incredible experience to be a father for the first time. It was equally incredible to hold my second daughter for the first time. As I held her that first day, I had no idea of the journey I would experience with her. I did not fathom the lessons I would learn through her life. I could not have known. But God did.
As I held her that first day, God knew that seven months later we would hold her for the last time. He knew I would battle with learning to trust him in the midst of tragedy. He knew that I would question where he was. He knew I would experience tremendous pain. I am who I am today because of that experience. I needed it. It shaped me to do what I do today. For that — not the experience of losing a daughter, but for what it made me — I am grateful.
But on this day, in 1996, all I felt was the tremendous joy of knowing that God had granted me another gift. Another girl. Another child. She was beautiful. She was tender. She was mine. She is mine.
One day I will hold her again. I look forward to that day. I’m not in a rush to get to it 
, but I will treasure it when it comes. For now, I just sit back and am grateful for having her in my life for the time that I did.
Happy Birthday, K.D.
Dad.
