If you know us at all, you know we’re music people. Actually, if you know us, you know that the term “music people” is a grand understatement. And, like all true music people, songs touch us in a million different ways for a million different reasons. Moments in our lives are often attached to songs—musical expressions of whatever is happening with us at the time.

Since Cate’s arrival, I have been anxious to put together a mix for her. She loves listening to music, especially when she falls asleep. To help broaden the music collection in her bedroom, I finally made a mix. In putting the playlist together, I stumbled upon a Steven Curtis Chapman song that he wrote for his adopted daughters, entitled, “When Love Takes You In.” I listened to it, cried (apparently, I’m a total sap now), and thought of our Cate. Later on that evening, I popped the new mix in her CD player, and played it for Cate while she ate. “When Love Takes You In” was the last song on the disc, and as it played, Cate’s eyelids began to flutter and she fell fast asleep. If you’re interested, here are the lyrics:

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

This past Wednesday, it became official. Cate is ours. Of course, we feel as though she’s been ours from the very beginning, but it was an amazing experience to stand in front of a judge and hear him declare that she is now our daughter. I’d try and describe how I felt at that moment, but I can’t. It was just too surreal. Wonderful. God was clearly there, as He has been from the beginning. And, after we were all done, the judge leaned over and said (obviously kidding), “She’s just adorable. If you change your mind, I could have at least a dozen families in here right away that would take her off of your hands.” Nate and I laughed and looked at our little girl. As far as we’re concerned, love took her in, and she’s home for good.

If you would like to see some pictures of Adoption Day (now an official holiday in the Phillips household), click here.