The Blessing of Unexpectedness

The pictures below are from my nephew Evan's 2nd birthday party this past March. My mom had family in town visiting from Massachusetts. It was really cool for me to get to hang out with them. I especially enjoyed talks with my cousin Cindy......about God...our family....etc. It was awesome to go to church together. I am very glad that she was so blessed and touched by God while she was here.

I also got to hang out with my Uncle Jerry and his wife Barbara whom I haven't seen in many years. It was nice hearing Jerry greet me with "There's my little Indian girl." He has called me that since I was a little girl. I was happy that my Aunt Gail came too. She was sick most of the time but I hope in a lot of ways the visit was good for her. She lost her daughter Dee Dee (who was also like her best friend) to cancer a couple years ago.

So on the day of Evan's birthday party....Cindy & I had just got home from church and got into this really great talk with my mom and Aunt Gail about church, God, the Bible and the importance of them all. Cindy was so touched by God that morning and was so overjoyed and cried a lot to my mom, encouraging her to go sometime. What really tugged hard on my heart was the need for really good churches back home and Cindy's clear need and desire for one.

So as we were talking my mom checked a voice mail message that she received. She got off the phone and said to me, "That was Goy and Tony, they are here in Orlando and said that they would like to see us." I was blown away and couldn't believe it. Here is some background for you. Tony is one of my uncle's on my dad's side (Caraballo's) and Goy is his son. The last time I saw my father was when I was 10 and then he died when I was 13. I have not had a relationship with the Caraballo's pretty much since then. The last time I saw them was at my dad's funeral.

For many years I have had the desire to know them....know more about the Caraballo family history...know more about my dad....about being half Puerto Rican, etc. This desire grew much stronger after I came to know Jesus Christ. I know that my identity is found in Christ but there has been a part of my earthly identity that I feel has been missing for too many years. I wanted to find that missing part of myself and I really wanted them to know how much God loves them and desires to have a relationship with them.

So back in 2003 I searched for them online and found some names and addresses and got together with my family here in Orlando and we got in contact with my Aunt Nery. I did arrange two meetings with them that unfortunately fell though.....and 2 years ago I just gave it to God and prayed that if they wanted a relationship with us that they would pursue us. I felt that I couldn't do anything else other than that.

So of all times and of all days, when we had family visiting from MA and we were all gathered to celebrate my nephew's birthday........they came.......Tony and Goy came. It was like a scene from a movie. There was so much joy, surprise, clearing up misunderstandings, talking, dancing, laughing, sharing........LOVE! They seemed to be so attentive to me.....kept looking at me and touching my face, telling me how beautiful I was and how much I looked like Grandmother Megalina, whom I never knew, she died before I was born.

It was an incredible time but not long enough. I will treasure that visit. God gave me that. It was totally unexpected and it was such a blessing. God is so good and sweet and loving. He is so HONORING! God has opened up this door to the Caraballo's. I am so happy. I pray that He continues to open up the hearts of my family and friends and continues to grow my heart in the process.

Family Photos

Me & my Uncle Tony..... It's crazy how much we look alike. My sisters kept calling us twins! :-)A picture of my family at my nephew Evan's 2nd birthday party this past March. Below are my parents, Stan & Rhonda, 3 sisters, Maria, Sondra & Laura, My niece and nephew, Evan & Isabella, My Aunt Gail & Cousin Cindy, My Uncle Tony & Cousin Jose "Goy" & His Uncle Nelson
My Uncle Tony dancing with my niece Mercedes
My sister Laura dancing with Uncle Tony
Tony dancing with Isabella and Laura dancing with Evan

Radiant

Exodus 34:29 (NIV)

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.

This verse really struck me today. It's interesting....I was going to write about how I now have "graylights" in my hair. You know how some people put highlights in their hair, like blonde or red. Well, since I have newly discovered that I have a patch of gray hair, I'd like to say that I have graylights. :-) So I wonder....what do people do when they get gray hair? I guess one option would be to color my hair but I have never really liked coloring my hair. I like it just how it is. And then I thought.... You know what....I have earned those graylights...that took a lot of time and work. :-)

Then a picture of Moses popped into my head. I thought of how when he came down Mount Sinai his hair was a dazzling gleaming white. Out of curiosity I looked up the verse above and then realized that it wasn't his hair that was gleaming....it was his face. I think I had the movie version in my head. :-) At any rate, I was amazed by what the verse said. Wow....Moses' face was Radiant from speaking with the LORD!

Hmm, when was the last time my face was radiant because I had been speaking with the Lord?

Father God~ I pray that I make the choice every day to sit in your presence and let your love penetrate my heart. Help me to push every hindrance aside, every distraction, every false god, and may I feast with the King~Jesus, My Savior, My Redeemer, My Lover, the one who rescued me from the pit, the one who has washed me clean and has given me a new name.

I want to be radiant! Do you?

I will bless you.....and you will be a blessing!

Well, here I am. I have wanted to start a blog for quite some time now. I hope to be able to communicate from my heart here.......freshly and honestly. It is my desire to share some of my thoughts and dreams.......and to invite you to take a glimpse into my life's journey. I am all about being real and don't like to sugar-coat anything. I hope that as you read through these posts- you laugh, cry, shout, rejoice, contemplate, wonder, engage, and become more aware of the awesomeness of your creator, God. I am sure that a lot of what will probably get posted on here will be excerpts from my journal. It is a great memorial of all that God has done and is continuing to do in and through my life. He has used it to speak into others lives so many times. I pray that just as in Genesis 12:2.....that not only would God bless me, but that I would be a blessing to your life as well.