January 2007

An Unusual Holiday

            Sue and I had an unusual holiday — we spent Thanksgiving with her biological family.  Sue was adopted when she was an infant.  Although her parents never kept the fact that she was adopted a secret from her, she never had any contact with her biological family until two years ago.  We have slowly begun to get acquainted with the family, a few members at a time, and this Thanksgiving we were with the whole family.  Her parents went on to have seven other children.  Her father died a few years ago.  Their whole lives, they lived on a farm in north central Ohio.  Sue, and her one adopted brother, grew up an hour from where her biological family lived. 

            What makes it so interesting is that none of the brothers or sisters knew of her existence until recently.  These new relationships have been very interesting and rewarding. 

            As we have all been getting used to new members of the family, we have had visits and meals with various family members at different times.  Then, in early November, we received a phone call from Sue’s mom inviting us to Thanksgiving dinner at her house.  All the children and their families would be there. 

            There were so many people we ate in the garage with tables and chairs set up.  Loads of food and conversation filled the room.  It was the first time in their lives that all the children had been together.  We took pictures of Sue, her mom and siblings with each other.  We met one sister, and several of the spouses and children, for the first time. 

            What added to the extraordinary part of all that has happened is that one of Sue’s sisters has a son who lives near us in Apple Valley.  One of her brother’s sons had Jeremy (our son-in-law) as his math professor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. 

            So, it is a small world — smaller than we would have ever believed.  And our connectedness to other people is greater than we could have imagined. 

            It is sort of like ABC’s new drama “6 Degrees” which says, “They say that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person through a chain of six people, which means that no one is a stranger.  Today, the stranger you crossed the street with may know your family.” 

            Relationships are really important.  It reminds us how essential it is to treat people well — even those we do not know. 

            The Bible says, “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:1-2). 

Enjoying God’s surprises,

Rod