{"id":20414,"date":"2026-03-11T09:20:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T09:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/unexpected-blessings-reconnecting-with-family\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:10:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:10:01","slug":"unexpected-blessings-reconnecting-with-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/family\/blended-families\/unexpected-blessings-reconnecting-with-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Blessings: Reconnecting with Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forgiving Mom<\/strong>
\nLou Dean from Dinosaur, Colorado<\/em><\/p>\n

With Colorado\u2019s stay-at-home order in place during the pandemic, I decided to make the best use of my time and finish sorting through boxes from the storage building. I opened the last box to find stacks of old photographs, documents and a tattered brown notebook with the years \u201c1935-1937\u201d written inside the cover. Bible verses and poems filled the pages. I stared at the pages in disbelief, realizing that what I\u2019d found was a journal<\/a> my mother kept as a teenager.<\/p>\n

Mama left us four kids on an Oklahoma farm when I was seven, and Dad raised us. She later remarried, and when we visited her in the summers, there was always an element of insecurity because of her alcoholism. I had succeeded with \u201clevels” of forgiveness for her abandonment of us, her alcoholism and her inability to ever really get honest, but I knew in my heart that I\u2019d never truly forgiven her for everything.<\/p>\n

Looking over Mama\u2019s poems more than twenty years after her death, I realized my gift of words had probably come from her. But although she’d lived to see me publish my books, she\u2019d never once told me that she herself had been interested in writing as a teenager. This realization made me feel closer to her than I had since I was a child. As I held the faded notebook in my shaking hands, I sensed God was giving me a nudge to let go of the last remaining anger and resentment toward my mother. I closed the notebook and let the waves of forgiveness wash over me, profoundly grateful that God used this time of crisis to grant me healing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Inspirational ABCs<\/strong>
\nJeanette Levellie from Paris, Illinois<\/em><\/p>\n

Our son Ron was a professional animator for five years. He now works at Eastern Illinois University, supervising the student workers in the library. But with no students on campus due to the pandemic, Ron has had extra time at home to draw. Last month, he posted on Facebook a drawing of a whimsical bird with a block letter A and the saying, \u201cAll is Well.\u201d He got so many likes and comments that he continued his ABCs of drawings and encouraging sayings. \u201cBob Monster wants you to appreciate yourself.\u201d \u201cCorn Monster says it\u2019s okay to admit you\u2019re having a rough time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides being fun and uplifting in this distressing time, Ron\u2019s alphabet of hope has proven especially surprising to me. Our son has always been a very shy, reserved and private person, a listener who rarely reveals much of himself. Although unfailingly kind and loving, in all his 39 years, I’ve never known him to reach out like this to others in such a public way. \u201cI didn\u2019t even plan to do it,\u201d he told me. \u201cIt just happened.\u201d I\u2019m so grateful for this unexpected peek into a bright new corner of my son\u2019s soul. <\/p>\n

The Full Empty-Nester<\/strong>
\nJulie Lavender from Statesboro, Georgia<\/em><\/p>\n

When our son Jeb moved out last summer, he was the last of our four children to go, and my husband David and I were left with a sad and empty nest<\/a>. Jeb even took our beloved grand-dog Caramel! For most of our lives, we\u2019d been used to having a lively, loving household, and I felt pretty down about it.<\/p>\n

Then Covid-19 happened and my nest started filling up again. Jeb decided to stay with us while he worked remotely, and he brought back Caramel. Our daughter Jessica\u2019s college campus was shuttered, and while she continued her coursework online, she came home too and brought her Pomeranian Coda. They moved right back into their old bedrooms.<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m cooking for four again, but loving every minute of the extra responsibility. Besides, having my kids back home is a blast\u2014Jessica and I stay up until the wee hours blaring shows on Netflix and Jeb plays disc golf with his dad. Although we\u2019re all praying for the pandemic to be over as soon as possible, my nest is full again and for that unexpected blessing I am grateful<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Out of the Rut<\/strong>
\nMarilyn Turk from Niceville, Florida<\/em><\/p>\n

Before the stay-at-home mandate, my husband Chuck and I already had our own mandates firmly in place in our retirement<\/a>. We each stayed at our desks in different rooms of the house, Chuck busy with ministry events and me working on writing projects and my own tasks. We only got together for meals, and often we ate in front of the television, so our conversation was limited. I missed my husband\u2019s company and his conversation, but I didn\u2019t know how to push past the rut we\u2019d gotten ourselves into.<\/p>\n

And then things changed very suddenly with the advent of the Covid-19 crisis. With all our events cancelled, Chuck now joins me on my daily walks. We\u2019ve talked more in the last few weeks than we have in the last year. This new and unexpected time together has greatly benefited our relationship, allowing us to become much more attuned to each other\u2019s wants and needs. It’s also been a boost to my fitness because Chuck walks a lot faster than I do and I have to push myself to keep up!<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forgiving Mom Lou Dean from Dinosaur, Colorado With Colorado\u2019s stay-at-home order in place during the pandemic, I decided to make the best use of my time and finish sorting through boxes from the storage building. 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