My New Best Friend

I put my trust in God for the approval of the appeal to the denial of eligibility for financial aid for my course work at San Diego State University. And God came through once more. I was notified of the approval of the appeal while I was in Knoxville, Tennessee last week for my nephew's wedding. So, I guess God really does want me to continue on my path to get a bachelor's degree in psychology and realize my dream of being a dance therapist. Praise the Lord!!

I praise Him again because of the awesome time I had in Knoxville with my sister and her family and my family. It was filled with easy camaraderie and laughter. I had not seen my sister and her family since 2002. Since then all but the one nephew, whose wedding we were there to attend, had gotten married and produced grandchildren for my sister. I had been praying for this nephew to find a wife for many years. He had come to California a couple of years ago and while I had intermittently prayed that he too would find a mate, my prayers became regular after his visit. So, I am amazed, although I don't know why, that God answered my prayers and provided such a compatible mate for my nephew. They even look like they belong together.

And while the days leading up to the trip had been filled with anxiety for me due to past personal issues with some members of the family, it turned out to be just God-blessed in a huge way. First of all, I was able to visit my sister's new apartment and see the fruits of her labor. God has recently blessed her with success in two businesses that she has built. This is a woman who was born deaf, had been married for 29 years, and had never supported herself financially. The past several years had been especially hard for her since she divorced the father of her children and struggled with all the issues of being a single woman, mother and grandmother. My prayers for her have also been answered since I have been praying fervently for her for more than a decade.

Because of our troubled childhood and her deafness,there had been many fights and misunderstandings between us as we grew up. She is the oldest of the four children in my immediate family and I always looked up to her and wanted to be close to her. The age difference between us is four years, so add to that her birth defect, the loss of our father when we were toddlers, and the turmoil of being raised by a single mother in the 60s and 70s and the circumstances did not lend itself to a warm and fuzzy relationship between us. But thankfully, we have finally gotten past all that and are building a brand new relationship. Indeed, my daughter has even begun to build a relationship with her aunt Susie.

I told my sister that she is now my new best friend and am looking forward to many more visits and maybe even vacationing with her. Like the fabled phoenix rising from the ashes of a fire long since burned, I am building a new relationship out of a troubled and painful past.