Testimonials
We can be surrounded by people and yet feel alone. It's like standing in a river and dying of thirst. We can have a family and yet live as an orphan in so many ways.
I grew up having a deep longing for a family that I didn't have, that I didn't think was possible. I mean, God placed me in the family I was born into, so how could my heart cry for more, for different? A lot of us grow up in broken, unhealthy families and we decide to live differently, to break the cycle and do it better as we grow our own families.
I remained single and so I wasn't creating my own family. My heart continued to cry out to God for this loving, healthy family that I yearned for. I tasted how family love was different from what I knew when I would build relationships with people at my churches growing up. I knew there was something more out there. I hungered for a place to belong that was healthy and nurturing.
You would think that as a grown adult in my 40s that this yearning would ease and I would realize that those in my life were enough and this was just something I needed to be content and thankful with.
God knows me better than I know myself and I believe He places these desires in our hearts. And only He could do what has been done in my life. I am presently 47 years old and God has brought a new family into my life over the past 5 years. I have a new Mom, a Nan, new Aunts, another Sister, Cousins and I am loved without boundaries. I am nurtured. I am accepted. I am heard. I am important. I have a place of belonging. I have a healthy, not perfect family who deals with difficulties and conflict together. I have people who do not walk out when it's not easy. I have healing that I've never known in my life. I have new understandings and learnings that I should have had at a much younger age. And I have my birth siblings and nieces and nephews and they remain a loving part of my life as well. God has expanded my family in a very big way. And it's not loosey goosey, you know the light hearted call people family and then it dissipates? Nope this isn't that kind. It's genuine, deep and lasting.
Do not put a timeline on your prayers, on your yearnings, continue to press in knowing that God sees you, hears you and wants the very best for you. His time is not our time. He is faithful. My life is an example of this over and over again.
