Monday, October 31, 2016

Our Family Grows

This post is intensely personal and very close to my heart.

My biological parents divorced when I was 6 months old and I have never met my biological father.  My mother remarried to an awesome man and he has been the best father I could have ever dreamed of.

In college I was of course curious about my bio father.  We tracked down our fraternal grandmother who told us he still had no desire to meet us.  I spoke with her a few times, but ended up losing contact.  In that process, we learned that our bio father had lived only 20 minutes from us our entire life and we had half siblings.

I figured that was the end of the story. I still prayed and dreamed of running into them one day, but figured it wasn't to be.  Boy was I wrong!  One of the shining points from the past two years was our story of connection.

I have a full blooded sister, two half brothers, and a half sister.  My full blooded sister had friended our half sister on Facebook, but never really pursued a personal meeting.

One day our half sister mentioned to our half brother that she was friends with my full blooded sister on Facebook.  My half brother and his wife had been praying to meet us for years.  We all begun private messaging each other and discussing times to meet.

This was so surreal.  I went from one sibling to 4 more in the blink of an eye.  Disclosure:  One half brother declined to meet us.

This is the part that makes my heart sing.

I begun messaging back and forth with my brother's wife.  He didn't have Facebook so we spoke through her.  In the midst of messaging, I felt something different.  My spidey senses were tingling.

I would catch a phrase or a word here or there that was familiar. This family was saved and born again!  It was like reading my native language in a foreign land.  I was overjoyed.  So were they! I had siblings that knew Jesus and followed His ways!

Not only were they saved, his wife and I had a ridiculous amount in common.  Our bond was instant!  I could not describe the depth of what this meant to me in mere words.  I was beyond myself.

I also had a ton in common with my brother as well.  Lots of similar interests and humor.  The bigger picture being that we were brother and sister in Christ as well.

We set a date to meet at a restaurant.  I was so nervous I thought I was going to vomit.  What if? What if? What if?  So many questions.

Stu and I were the first to arrive.  While we were waiting to be seated, my brother and sister in love came in.  I choked back tears.  I hugged them nervously.  I was shaking.

We got to the table and our half sister and my full sister arrived and joined us.  We all seemed to get along. We took a few pictures and scheduled some other dates to see each other again.

When we turned to leave, I gave my brother another hug and it is like our spirits spoke to each other, recognized each other.  As if to say, I've missed you brother, I know you.

I got in the car and cried many tears.  For things I didn't even know I felt.  Years of separation.  I felt like I had missed him for years, but didn't even know he existed for the majority of my life.

We kept in touch and saw each other many times.  My love for them continued to grow.  And my friendship with my new sister in love blossomed.  She has become one of my dearest friends.

Since then many things have happened, both good and bad.  All I know is that day was the answer to many prayers. It forever changed the landscape of our family.  So much was added, but we have also lost some in the wake.

I am forever grateful  that God opened this door and gave us an answer we had never expected.  I no longer feel disjointed or disconnected in my family.  I feel like I fit somewhere.  That someone understands my heart. I have a relative that I can relate too.

Sometimes we ask for something, a simple request, but God is so faithful to answer the desire beyond the request.  I requested salvation, He replied with a remnant family that was looking for the same.  My heart is full to overflowing at His amazing and mysterious ways.