Setting the Stage15Some had traveled more than twenty- four hours just to be
there to meet me.
For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by women
who looked like me. They were in tears to finally meet the
daughter of the sister they missed so deeply, and I was in tears to
be embraced by the beloved siblings of the mother I never knew.
I cannot adequately express what that moment meant to me.
After a whirlwind of greetings, hugs, tears, and wonderful-
ness, I turned around to see my Compassion team, Shaun, Tsh,
Emily, Stephanie, Lindsey, Patricia, Keely, and Bri— people I’d
met less than a day before as we boarded the plane— all ugly
crying right along with me.
It meant so much to me that I wasn’t experiencing this
moment alone. That at some level they understood how this
very moment brought a level of completion to my story.
Oh, how He redeems.
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Maybe your story is similar to mine, with parents who weren’t
there. Maybe yours didn’t die. Maybe they left. Maybe they
stayed but didn’t care. Or maybe you lost a son or daughter, a
brother or sister, a spouse. Maybe you’re longing for a child.
Maybe you lost your hope, your faith. Maybe you lost your
job or your ability to dream. Maybe your story holds more
heartache than most can imagine.
Maybe words have pierced you. Maybe there were fists.
Maybe you disappointed yourself and others.
Or maybe you don’t think you have a story, but you wish
you did. Your life has been fine and good, and you wish you