Sometimes as you are walking through life you get stopped for interruptions that you were not expecting or even wanting. You may get slapped around a bit, but in the end you see that you have found unexpected joy.
My family had a situation just like this happen to us about two and half years ago. My son had dated a girl at the start of 2011 when he was just 20 years old. They were together for a short time and then she found another man she wanted to be with. As sad as he was, he also understood that things were just not meant to work out. He went about his life and found a new girlfriend about 6 months later. He seemed happy and things seemed fine. He was going to school, had his girlfriend, was playing softball and generally enjoying being a young man.
One Monday night as we were all getting ready to go to one of their softball games, his phone rang with an unknown number and when he answered the person on the other line asked him to make sure he was sitting down. The person identified herself as a social worker and asked him if he had known a girl named “M.” Well he did of course, he had dated M in the beginning of the year. The social worker went on to tell him that M had a baby, and she said he was his. She went on to tell him that the mother did not want the baby, was putting it up for adoption and asked if he would come and sign his rights away. WHOA!! My son instantly started crying. He had no idea what to do, so he asked her if he could call her back.
He came into my bedroom bawling and told me what the social worker told him. I was in complete shock, we had seen this girl around town, and she did not look pregnant. We had friends that were still friends with her and nobody thought/knew she was pregnant. Shock is an understatement. He knew he could not let his baby go into the system to be adopted. He needed to raise his daughter.
I called our church and asked for prayer, and was given wise counsel by our pastor who told me to reach out and find others who might have legal connections and see what advice we could get, and in the meantime he was going to put the word out to see if we could gather up some baby things.
We got some legal advice, some prayer, calmed my son down and then we had to tell his new girlfriend who, believe it or not, took it very well. My husband and I loaded everyone up in the car and we drove to the hospital to meet his daughter. When we got there, oh my goodness! We knew that little girl was his, she looked just like him. It was amazing!
We are of meager means and did not have the money to go to the local baby store and drop thousands of dollars on baby things. We started calling everyone we knew.
You would not believe how much stuff people brought to us, our church and parishioners, our friends, our son’s friends, people from our old church, everyone rallied around us and started bringing baby things to our door. Car seat, high chair, clothes, carriers, bouncers, bibs, diapers, and everything you could possibly need for a new baby was generously donated to us. Our pastor’s wife used to be a nurse, and as soon as we brought the baby home she came over and had a lesson for us all in how to take care of a preemie.
We were all so happy and still a bit shocked, but at the same time we were so blessed, so thankful and so incredibly filled with joy. Unexpected joy. The little girl is now a bit over two and is the love of our lives and we know that even though it hasn’t been easy to raise her and take care of her, with late nights and all the newborn stuff everyone else goes through, this has been the best thing that has ever happened to us. It was truly unexepected but also filled out lives with great joy.
Today we are fortunate to live in a world of the internet where people all over the world can help each other, family, friends, even strangers who just want to do a good deed. GiveForward now lets you do just that. You can go to their site and send help to anyone who needs it. If you find yourself in a situation that requires help you can set up an account so others can help you.
So, what is your unexpected joy? What is the thing happening in your life right now that you either need help with or can help others with. GiveForward is the resource you need to help you do what matters in your life. Check out their site here. They have an ambassador program as well, that I feel everyone should be involved in, you can join here!
When we were in a situation where we needed help we were so lucky to have people come along side us and help, many said they were blessed by doing so. Bless someone today!
Lisa Ehrman says
September 30, 2014 at 12:11 pmI love GiveForward, too! Thanks for sharing this post with us at Together on Tuesdays!
Heather says
June 12, 2014 at 11:15 amWhat an awesome story you have! That little girl is very lucky to have her daddy and grandparents in her life. Visiting from SITS facebook group.
Geanine says
June 10, 2014 at 5:46 amWhat a touching story, your family is very blessed. Thank you for sharing.
Bella Vida Letty says
June 10, 2014 at 5:46 amIt’s always good to pay it forward. You never know what someone else is going through.
Danielle says
June 10, 2014 at 2:20 amWhat an amazing story. Thank you for sharing this. Your son is an amazing man for stepping up and taking his daughter. Your granddaughter is one lucky girl.
Elizabeth Copeland says
June 9, 2014 at 7:41 pmI love this story! What an amazing way that your community supported you, as you supported your child and grandchild. Blessings.
Debbie Jean McMullen says
June 9, 2014 at 7:29 pmWow this made me cry! Your son is a great man!
Jessica Peeling says
June 9, 2014 at 6:52 pmWhat a great story! We need more of these, as the news and social media are full of terrible things lately. GiveForward sounds like a wonderful site.
Diana Villa says
June 9, 2014 at 6:16 pmSuch a beautiful story, thank you so much for sharing ^_^
Paula Parker says
June 9, 2014 at 5:12 pmWhat a beautiful story! You hear about how bad the world is all the time, but it has lots of good.
Gabby says
June 9, 2014 at 3:44 pmOh wow, what a story! Happy things worked out for you all in the end.
Heather Wone says
June 9, 2014 at 2:35 pmWhat a beautiful story, thank you so much for sharing!
Charity L. says
June 9, 2014 at 2:08 pmBeautiful story and kudos to your family for stepping up. Doesn’t happen very often but so refreshing to hear. What a blessing you all received:)