- unexpected blessings -

last night, i received a voice mail on my cell phone from a family member that i've not spoken to for a few years - when i listened to the message, i almost couldn't believe my ears

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a little background in this situation: we've a family member [we'll call them 'n'], that i used to be pretty close as i'd spend a lot of my summers with them - over the years, they got married & had children as did i - well, things were very well between us & even though we didn't live near each other any longer, we still enjoyed each others company at get togethers, etc.

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well, we adopted kiara in '03, then karleigh in '04 & lastly [or so we thought] ruby in '05 - during all our adoptions, i'd send out 'updates' on where we were in the process at the time & even after the kids got home, i'd let people know how they were doing, etc. - well, one day after giving an update, i received an email from 'n' that asked they not get anymore updates - they stated they were glad we were happy, but didn't need to know what was going on any longer

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even though it seemed a bit rude/odd, etc. i passed it off as me talking/sharing too much & never really thought much about it - well, just a few days later, not knowing about the email i'd received, mom sent out a 'here's ruby, my new grand daughter!' email as ruby had just come home - mom ended up getting a matching email to mine, but they went on to tell her how they really didn't want to hear about ruby at all - she didn't let it rest, but instead, emailed them back, asking what the reason was for their decision, as it seemed a bit odd - they informed her [not their exact words] that they didn't care to hear about any of our children & that they were shocked that we'd name our new little girl ruby after my grandmother/memaw, as her name was ruby & she & i were very close [memaw's what we called her & she'd already passed at this point] - they also went on to say how they didn't feel she'd be pleased at all with us naming a 'black child' after her as she didn't like blacks at all

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mom, fueled at this point, stated that memaw [her mother] didn't have a problem with blacks at all & that memaw saw everyone as individuals & that she loved them all as she was a christian & was always striving to do as god would have her do - this went over like a lead balloon & the email basically ended in the same way it started...no more updates...period! - this was in '05 & we've not had contact with this person at all, except for 2 funerals we've attended & even though they spoke, it was very 'cold'

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well fast forwarding a bit...i was late getting our christmas letter out & finally did so just the other day [praise the lord] & by accident [i know it was a god thing], it printed off their address by mistake & i didn't catch it, so one was sent to them

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the voicemail: 'n' introduced themself & stated numerous times about how bad they felt for their actions in the past, things they've said & how they treated us - they said they hoped we'd forgive them & that they'd basically had a change of heart & hoped we'd not be mad at them - i mentioned how we've all said/done things we regret & that i still loved them - they said that they'd gotten another job a few years ago & wanted me to know they've even made some friends with some blacks - the other day, they were helping teach missionettes at their church & one of the scriptures was talking about how you don't let the sun go down on your wrath & 'n' thought of us & all that's gone on over the years & really began feeling bad about it - 'n' then got our christmas letter the next day & they've not felt good about it since - they said they've written me a letter 2 times now over the past couple days, but tore them both up, as they felt they owed it to me, to talk on the phone instead of me having to read their feelings

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they apologized over & over as i let them know how much they meant to me & how i hated not having contact with them for so long - their family's has a huge [that's an understatement] get together in the summer every year & we used to go, but when all this started, we stopped & haven't attended for several years - they personally invited us back & stated that it'd be an honor to them, for us to come bring all our kids as they really wanted to get to know them - they ended the conversation by letting me know that they truly felt that memaw would be proud of me & that she'd have enjoyed having ruby named after her

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all in all, i was floored, but saw how god had orchestrated the entire thing & for that i'm thankful - i love unexpected blessings [praise the lord]