Have you ever been surprised? Shocked? Or in a state of confusion before? I have. The most recent, memorable moment was when I was 34 yrs old. It was February of 2010. 2 1/2 months after my jaw surgery.
This all happened almost 3 years ago, so I may not have every detail right. But it is to the best of my knowledge & understanding. So I apologize to my family if I misunderstood anything....
FB is short for Facebook ;)
My family and I were sitting at an evening church service when I received a text. I normally I would wait until after the service to look at it, but for some reason I looked at it right then. It was from my older brother, Kevin. He said something along these lines: "Just got an email on FB from someone who says they might know our mom & is married to our brother". We did not know our biological mother...... I wasn't sure what to think of it. My initial thought was " he's joking with me". Kevin has alway been the one to to mess around with you but after reading it again, I thought this is something that may be real. I sat there looking at the message w/ an odd look on my face when my hubby asked who it was. I gave him my phone to read the text & we just looked at each other w/ that "what in the world???"look. Once church let out I called him to find out what he was talking about. It was a conversation that I would never forget & it almost seemed unbelievable. I learned that I was one of eight children and our birth mom, Kim, had passed away from kidney failure 3 months earlier in November. My understanding is that when the other kids were going through Kim's stuff, they came across a picture w/ two kids on it & on the back had the name Kevin Hale on it. My sister-in-law, Tiffany, looked up the name in FB & when she saw that there was only one asian looking guy on there she thought this had to be him. LOL!!! And it was. When I got home I began to look everyone up on my laptop. I was still in a state of unbelief when seeing these people who were claiming to be our siblings on FB. I guess the thing that made it real was seeing pictures of Kim. I had only seen a few pictures of her w/ Kevin when he was baby back in 1974. So I had an idea of what Kim looked like. There were none of me w/ her or as a baby. The earliest baby picture is one my grandparents had made of me when I was about 5 months old when they took guardianship over us. I will be honest, there were times it upset me that there were no pictures, baby book, or anything that would connect me w/ Kim. I guess that is why I never had a longing to find her like Kevin did. I would be lying if I said that we were raised in a non-dis functional home. As many families, we had our fair share of problems but I know God placed us in the care of our grandparents, our dad, and the many loving family members that surrounded us for a reason. I am truly thankful for being raised in a Christ centered & family oriented home. I have no regrets for I was and still am extremely blessed to be apart of such a wonderful family! And I am even more blessed as my family has grown in the past three years & relationships have begun to form with my new found family!
The next couple of weeks I was so emotional & overwhelmed by all that was happening & all that I was learning about our new found siblings, Kim & our family in the Philippines. I would find myself crying, tears of joy, as I would think about or look at picture of our new found family.We all had so many questions, some answers (just by that fact that there were other siblings) but a lot left unanswered since those answers could only come from Kim, who was no longer with us. But that is OK because the relationships that are being formed mean more to me than not knowing all the answers. I truly believe that this was all in Gods timing. Why? My two older sisters were raised by their father. Kevin & I by our grandparents & dad and our other three younger brothers and baby sister by Kim & her last husband. So each of us had a different perceptions of Kim. Some good, some not so good. If Kim were still living, I'm not so sure things would turn out that well between all of us kids just because of the hurt that is still there towards Kim & the choices she had made that affected each of us. My hope is that for those of us who didn't have a good perception of Kim will end up being able to forgive and see Kim in a better way from learning from those who knew and lived w/ her during the later years of her life. We have all made mistakes, gone through different seasons of life but healing begins by accepting that and knowing that through forgiveness we can move forward. As a believer in Christ, I see how Christ forgave me for all my mistakes, wrong thoughts, bad, hurtful & selfish choices....my sins. Who am I that I can't extend that same forgiveness Christ gave me, to another????? On my own, I can't, but through Christ living in & through me, He has made it possible. There was a time that I was held captive by my sin of bitterness, anger, resentment & pride. This led to many more selfish & hurtful choices. And I allowed my life to be led by emotions rather that the Truth... But I realized through reading God's Holy Word, that the Bible full of guidelines, principles, protection & examples of what happens when you live apart from God (death & curses) & what God has for us when we accept Him as our Savior (life & blessings). I learned that what was, here on earth (by our own free will), is not what God intended it to be. God put it all out in front of us, we just have to choose which of the two roads we want to take. The life that I had been living was apart from God,& it couldn't compare to life that He had for me. Which is living in the Freedom of Christ, His Forgiveness, His Grace & His Mercy, which was given to me through His birth, death & resurrection and by Him alone! I serve a God who pursues me and He proved His love for me at the Cross of Calvary! I am thankful for what God allowed me to go through, trials & all, so that I would come to have a personal relationship with Him & see Him for who He really is!! My life has become full of hope but not until I stopped running from Him and I allowed Him to embrace me, restore me & to heal my brokenness. Now, I never want to let go!!!!
AMAZING GRACE...MY CHAINS ARE GONE!!!
This November it will have been 3yrs since we have begun this new chapter in our lives. There is still SO much I want to know about my new found sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. But w/ all of us living in different states, even different countries, it is hard to do. Until that day where we can all unite for the first time, staying in touch through FB & texting is all we have for now. I am thankful that we at least have that.
TA-DAAA!!!!!
Now I would like to introduce you my sisters & brothers and their families. And share with you a couple pictures of my family over in the Philippines.
First is my older sister Maria Ruth Kaminski. She was the only one born in the Philippines. I will never be able to physically see her, hug her, hear her voice, or begin this new chapter of my life with her. She lost her life way too early.....
This is Skylar Ashton, her son, who also passed do to being premature & having a blood infection...
Both Maria & April live in California
Kevin Hale, who I was raised with, we both lived in Texas. This is him & 3 kiddos
Chance
China Grace
Chandlin
Then there was me, our 3 kiddos. Zachery, Ashleigh & Austin
The last four siblings lived in North Carolina.
This is my brother Michael Hale (found out we carry the same last name). I hope one day we can meet but he has been in prison since he was 15 and serving a sentence that may keep him there for a life time. I pray for him. I want him to know that he is family & he is loved.......
Then there is Joshua Conroy and his wife Tiffany and their 2 kiddos, Joshua Jr & Janeesa
This all happened almost 3 years ago, so I may not have every detail right. But it is to the best of my knowledge & understanding. So I apologize to my family if I misunderstood anything....
FB is short for Facebook ;)
My family and I were sitting at an evening church service when I received a text. I normally I would wait until after the service to look at it, but for some reason I looked at it right then. It was from my older brother, Kevin. He said something along these lines: "Just got an email on FB from someone who says they might know our mom & is married to our brother". We did not know our biological mother...... I wasn't sure what to think of it. My initial thought was " he's joking with me". Kevin has alway been the one to to mess around with you but after reading it again, I thought this is something that may be real. I sat there looking at the message w/ an odd look on my face when my hubby asked who it was. I gave him my phone to read the text & we just looked at each other w/ that "what in the world???"look. Once church let out I called him to find out what he was talking about. It was a conversation that I would never forget & it almost seemed unbelievable. I learned that I was one of eight children and our birth mom, Kim, had passed away from kidney failure 3 months earlier in November. My understanding is that when the other kids were going through Kim's stuff, they came across a picture w/ two kids on it & on the back had the name Kevin Hale on it. My sister-in-law, Tiffany, looked up the name in FB & when she saw that there was only one asian looking guy on there she thought this had to be him. LOL!!! And it was. When I got home I began to look everyone up on my laptop. I was still in a state of unbelief when seeing these people who were claiming to be our siblings on FB. I guess the thing that made it real was seeing pictures of Kim. I had only seen a few pictures of her w/ Kevin when he was baby back in 1974. So I had an idea of what Kim looked like. There were none of me w/ her or as a baby. The earliest baby picture is one my grandparents had made of me when I was about 5 months old when they took guardianship over us. I will be honest, there were times it upset me that there were no pictures, baby book, or anything that would connect me w/ Kim. I guess that is why I never had a longing to find her like Kevin did. I would be lying if I said that we were raised in a non-dis functional home. As many families, we had our fair share of problems but I know God placed us in the care of our grandparents, our dad, and the many loving family members that surrounded us for a reason. I am truly thankful for being raised in a Christ centered & family oriented home. I have no regrets for I was and still am extremely blessed to be apart of such a wonderful family! And I am even more blessed as my family has grown in the past three years & relationships have begun to form with my new found family!
The next couple of weeks I was so emotional & overwhelmed by all that was happening & all that I was learning about our new found siblings, Kim & our family in the Philippines. I would find myself crying, tears of joy, as I would think about or look at picture of our new found family.We all had so many questions, some answers (just by that fact that there were other siblings) but a lot left unanswered since those answers could only come from Kim, who was no longer with us. But that is OK because the relationships that are being formed mean more to me than not knowing all the answers. I truly believe that this was all in Gods timing. Why? My two older sisters were raised by their father. Kevin & I by our grandparents & dad and our other three younger brothers and baby sister by Kim & her last husband. So each of us had a different perceptions of Kim. Some good, some not so good. If Kim were still living, I'm not so sure things would turn out that well between all of us kids just because of the hurt that is still there towards Kim & the choices she had made that affected each of us. My hope is that for those of us who didn't have a good perception of Kim will end up being able to forgive and see Kim in a better way from learning from those who knew and lived w/ her during the later years of her life. We have all made mistakes, gone through different seasons of life but healing begins by accepting that and knowing that through forgiveness we can move forward. As a believer in Christ, I see how Christ forgave me for all my mistakes, wrong thoughts, bad, hurtful & selfish choices....my sins. Who am I that I can't extend that same forgiveness Christ gave me, to another????? On my own, I can't, but through Christ living in & through me, He has made it possible. There was a time that I was held captive by my sin of bitterness, anger, resentment & pride. This led to many more selfish & hurtful choices. And I allowed my life to be led by emotions rather that the Truth... But I realized through reading God's Holy Word, that the Bible full of guidelines, principles, protection & examples of what happens when you live apart from God (death & curses) & what God has for us when we accept Him as our Savior (life & blessings). I learned that what was, here on earth (by our own free will), is not what God intended it to be. God put it all out in front of us, we just have to choose which of the two roads we want to take. The life that I had been living was apart from God,& it couldn't compare to life that He had for me. Which is living in the Freedom of Christ, His Forgiveness, His Grace & His Mercy, which was given to me through His birth, death & resurrection and by Him alone! I serve a God who pursues me and He proved His love for me at the Cross of Calvary! I am thankful for what God allowed me to go through, trials & all, so that I would come to have a personal relationship with Him & see Him for who He really is!! My life has become full of hope but not until I stopped running from Him and I allowed Him to embrace me, restore me & to heal my brokenness. Now, I never want to let go!!!!
AMAZING GRACE...MY CHAINS ARE GONE!!!
This November it will have been 3yrs since we have begun this new chapter in our lives. There is still SO much I want to know about my new found sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. But w/ all of us living in different states, even different countries, it is hard to do. Until that day where we can all unite for the first time, staying in touch through FB & texting is all we have for now. I am thankful that we at least have that.
TA-DAAA!!!!!
Now I would like to introduce you my sisters & brothers and their families. And share with you a couple pictures of my family over in the Philippines.
First is my older sister Maria Ruth Kaminski. She was the only one born in the Philippines. I will never be able to physically see her, hug her, hear her voice, or begin this new chapter of my life with her. She lost her life way too early.....
This is April Kaminski and her sons Daniel & Ivory "JuJu" and her daughter, Ilani
Both Maria & April live in California
Kevin Hale, who I was raised with, we both lived in Texas. This is him & 3 kiddos
Then there was me, our 3 kiddos. Zachery, Ashleigh & Austin
The last four siblings lived in North Carolina.
This is my brother Michael Hale (found out we carry the same last name). I hope one day we can meet but he has been in prison since he was 15 and serving a sentence that may keep him there for a life time. I pray for him. I want him to know that he is family & he is loved.......
Then there is Joshua Conroy and his wife Tiffany and their 2 kiddos, Joshua Jr & Janeesa
This is Lance Garrison. He reminded me so much of Kevin! I have a feeling he is just as goofy as Kevin is too!! ;)
This is my youngest sister Laura, her boyfriend Gilbert
& their daughter Laila
Even though some of us were miles apart and Kevin & I may have not have know her, this is the one person who brought us all together. Our birth mom, Myrna or Kim as I knew her......
FAMILY in the PHILIPPINES
This is our 85yr old grandmother, Lola w/ Laura & Lance when they went to visit the family in the Philippines
Top: Cousins- Irish, Elizha, (Laura & Lance) Jo Sh Ua, Ralph
Middle: Cousins- Sarah, Eunice, Maria, Renzo, Jared
Bottom: Aunt Victoria, Grandma Lola, Uncle Raul, Aunt Imee, Aunt Wally
This is all family too!!! Unfortunately I don't know all their names, but it's just another example of the overflow of God's
many blessings!!!
This side of the family has grown since that family picture was taken........
Maria & Vince
cousin Sarah's son Clark Jacob
As you can see, much has happened to me & our family. If I left anyone or anything out, I apologize. Thankfully, in God's timing, He has opened the doors to so much more than what I could have ever imagined! Although there have been many "up's & down's" in my life, the greatest thing is to see how God continues to bless me beyond what I deserve. And how He reveals more of His Truth to me as I grow closer to Him & the purpose that He has for me & my whole family!!!!
I still have much to share so stay tuned to "Melissa's Moments"!!!!
