Faith….In Unlikely Places

I was in Sante Fe, New Mexico staying at a beautiful bed and breakfast with my sister Cally. It had been the first time ever I had gone on vacation purely for myself without husband or kids in tow.

The second day we were there, I mentioned to Cally that we should call our mom (Katherine!) and let her know we had arrived safely. We dialed the number and Katherine answered. After a few minutes of how’s it going, how’s everything, she said to me “are you sitting down”?

So I sat down. I said “What’s up?” She said “Guess who called? Your cousin, Christina…”.  

Christina

This was big news. My cousins, Christina and her older brother Jason, had gone AWOL for a few years and we did not know what happened to them or where they were. Christina calling my mom was nothing short of a miracle.

A few weeks before this momentous phone call, I had been to a small old church for a meeting of friends. For some reason, I thought of my two lost cousins all evening. I happened to use the bathroom (in the basement of the church, of all places) and while I was in there I thought, Dear God, Where are they?

Faith sometimes appears in the strangest of places. I’m sure it appears in church of course. But I know it often happens outside of typically holy places. I never thought praying in a bathroom, especially an unfamiliar bathroom, could have such amazing results.

I don’t remember when I called Christina. It might have been there in Sante Fe or when I got home. I can share with you that the following December, she and her daughter Ariel took a train and shared Christmas with us. Now she comes with her husband, Julio, and occasionally her stepson Adrian. A few years ago, we went to Jason’s wedding and met his now wife- Angela. Jason had a new baby, Jamiya, almost two years ago.

It never ceases to amaze me that we have all been reunited and can look forward to many years together. Whenever I see Christina get out of her car, after a long trip to Pennsylvania to visit us, I pinch myself.

When we turn the impossible over to God, amazing things can happen. Things that we need not have any hand in. All we have to do is believe.

It's nice to share. Thank you.

5 Replies to “Faith….In Unlikely Places”

  1. I love telling people the story of how I reconnected with my family, because hope is so prevalent. I was in such a lonely place after my mother had passed when 19, and had asked my mothers younger sister to get in contact with my fathers side of the family and let them know what had happened (contact was broken from when I was around 14), she told me days later she had tried and the phone was slammed down with someone yelling “DON’T CALL HERE ANYMORE” . Years later after giving birth to my daughter Ariel, she asks me where her family is (I feel horrible) my Aunt had pretty much washed her hands with me for things done to her by my brother and I had not spoken to her for almost a year, regardless I picked up the phone called her to ask if she had in fact tried to contact my family years ago, she then finally told me she hadn’t even bothered because why would anyone want to know me (she had a lot of anger) I do still love her but she hasn’t spoken to me since. I swear I must have waited a week to call my Aunt Kay, so scared I was just setting myself up to be hurt again, but I looked at Ariel and I knew what I had to do. I grew up with so much love, and so much family it didn’t seem fair for Ariel to get the short end of the stick, plus I wanted my family back as well. I called 411 and boom it was so easy to get the number I felt kinda silly that I personally had not done it sooner. When my Aunt Kay answered the phone she burst into tears when she realized who I was and couldn’t believe we finally found each other again. So much had happened, my mother and Kay’s husband had passed on, as well as Jimmy, we lost so much, but now is the time for us to make up for the past. Now its 9 years later, I still can’t believe how much I have taken for granted, that it had to be taken away to fully appreciate what was there to begin with. And I thank my daughter cause if she didn’t push I never, ever would have taken that first step. Jo in the wise words of Ariel “I love you too much”.

  2. I love this story and appreciate this family so much. This is what family is. Love, and Love as we know, is always forgiving, always accepting, only encouraging and unconditional. This family exemplifies this is their everyday life and it spreads like wildfire to anyone who is blessed enough to come in contact with them. Thank God, for God : )

  3. Why do we wait so long to allow God to intervene? Family can be heaven on earth if we cultivate it with loving care. I recently heard a similar story from a man who was reunited with a grandson and great-grandchildren. Sometimes it only takes a call to start the ball rolling.

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