November 25, 2020: Thank You God for MY FAMILY

Today I am EXTREMELY THANKFUL FOR FAMILY near and far.

I would like to take a moment to share with you my blessing of having a family. Having one is an amazing gift. Unless you’ve lost yours or never had one you can not imagine how lucky, how blessed you are to have one. The feeling of not being wanted or loved by my step / adopted family for so much of my younger years, makes having Family now more precious than most would understand. My heart is so full of pride and love for each of them that I feel the need to express how truly grateful I am.

Being abandoned, adopted, abused, wounded and broken by the people that were supposed to be your happily ever after family and then finally finding your Birth Family after 46 years of searching, is one of the most Amazing Miracles that has ever happened in my life. I am soooo Grateful that God, in His perfect timing, led me to them nearly five years ago. I love them dearly. Going from not having any family to speak of, to finding that I have five brothers and sisters is beyond words.

My Mom, unfortunately passed away fourteen years before I found them. My Mom’s husband, who unfortunately is not my birth father, and his new wife have accepted me as their own. I am the lost daughter now welcomed into their home, their lives and their hearts. They are the first that I feel I can truly call Mom and Dad. They love me without condition, and I am forever grateful. I wish I could be with them more, especially due to their aging and frailty, but distance and the covid virus has made that nearly impossible. All we have are phone calls and the internet. Still, I feel I have bonded with them more than I could ever imagine and for that I am extremely grateful.

It’s AMAZING to me that people, that I never knew existed prior to the summer of 2016, would immediately accept me into their lives and their hearts as if I had been there all along. It’s a true MIRACLE.

My Mom, I have learned, was unmarried and eighteen when she gave birth to me. She was living with my Grandparents at the time of my arrival. I was illegitimate and so there were whispers amongst the neighbors and arguments between my Grandparents as to what to do with me. Mom left me with them as she went to tell my Birth Father about me. He lived in another state and she was gone longer than my Grandmother anticipated.

My Grandparents apparently argued about my unexpected arrival. My Grandfather insisted that children were a gift from God no matter how they became part of your family, while my Grandmother did not want anything to do with me or the gossip surrounding my arrival, so while my Mom was gone to find my father and my Grandfather was at work, Grandma gave me away to the Children’s Home Society of Missouri. I was gone without my Mom knowing my fate. The state was told that I had been abandoned and so I was. Within 2 years, I was legally adopted and my identity was changed.

Mom had three more daughters, two sons and three husbands after she and my grandmother abandoned me. One sister died soon after my Mom in 2002, another sister was a flower child back in the day and has not been heard from for many years, but my other sister, is a precious gift from God. We are similar in so many ways. We favor each other in appearance, but what I love the most is that we are spiritual kindred spirits, sisters in Christ more than blood, equally yoked in Faith and the Love of God. She inspires me to draw closer to Our Lord every time we speak. We lift each other up and encourage one another with God’s Word and I feel so blessed to have found her. It is as if we have never been apart.

I have two brothers; one that I have only spoken to and lives on the east coast. I wish I could get to know him better but I need to trust in God’s timing for that. My other brother is, well, beyond words. Though he is younger in years, he towers a foot above me. It was as if he and his family have always been in my life. He is outspoken, full of love for life and country, and I know he would have my back and protect me as I always imagined a brother would. I also think him the kind of brother, who would have, as a younger brother if we had grown up together, been the kind that would have been a prankster, made me laugh, made me angry, and made me cry. I am deeply thankful to God for him, my beautiful sister n law and my two nephews – How Blessed I am.

Each of these missing pieces to my life- once lost, now found – so very precious to me – are Gifts received from Heaven – Treasures in my heart.

I was never really close to my step/adopted family, so when I started my own family it was a miracle to me. Seeing a face that looked similar to mine, knowing that my children had MY BLOOD was beyond words. I have been blessed with three sons, each successful in their own right – one a Teacher with a Masters Degree in Education, another a Pilot for FedEx and the other a self made man with his own very successful company in Florida.

They have brought three amazing, beautiful women into our family that are more daughters than in laws. My pride and joy, however, are my seven amazing Grandchildren, all precious gifts from heaven. They are my gift to the world and to the future. They are a reflection of God’s love to me. They bring me such joy and laughter and often wisdom. From the mouths of babes comes the purest form of wisdom. They believe and trust – just as Christ said we should. They exemplify the pure innocence, openness, trust and faith that we should imitate in our adult relationship with God. That’s why they are here – to remind me of who I should be in Christ. Thank You God for giving me, not one, but seven reminders to draw closer to you as a child of God.

Thank you for all of my wonderful family far and near. God Bless each and every one and please keep them and I safe so that I may continue to enjoy them for as long as you allow.

Peace and Blessings, VICTORIA

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