52 hearts: How someone connected with my family

Today, instead of sharing how I made connections with others, I want to give you a bit of my story and a connection that was made with my family.  Maybe it will inspire you in your walk somehow.

When I gave birth to my first baby over 15 years ago, my parents were ecstatic.  They already had three grandsons from one of my sisters and were overjoyed to have a little girl to dote on again.  Well, two weeks after Catz arrived we learned that my dad had pancreatic cancer.  We knew the prognosis for this specific disease, but we prayed for healing all the same.  A year later, at the age of 60 and on Mother's Day weekend, my daddy moved to heaven.  We were thankful he knew Jesus and there would be no more suffering for him, but ultimately we were heartbroken.

All I could think about were the missed hugs and fun times my kids would never have since my dad was gone.  My mom more than made up for the hugs and fun, but a grandpa is different and I missed that for the kids.

But eventually my eldest brother-in-law, Roger, took on that role.  Eighteen years older than TechDaddy and me, Roger became a close friend to my husband and sort of a father figure for me.  But what really made an impact was his relationship with my kids, Catz and MrC. 

He was their uncle, but Roger became like the grandfather they never knew.  Though he lived over an hour away, Roger would sometimes stop by our house out of the blue.  To deliver a birthday gift or just to say hi, he really made a difference.  But in the fall of 2008, at the age of 58, Roger went home to be with God after a massive heart attack.  This time all four of us were devastated.  We all felt his loss deeply and still do.

Last year I had often prayed that God would provide a man to fill that gap with my kids.  Not someone who would be exactly like my dad or my brother, but a man who could share a little bit of that grandfather-like wisdom with them.  I stopped praying for that, deciding that God would grow my kids the way He intends, that we didn't need someone like that.

And then we met Ray.  This past February our church started a food pantry to help supply the needs of several large food banks in the area.  My kids and I joined the ministry and met Ray, the leader.  Over the next couple of weeks we got to know Ray as we stocked food items at the church.  He and his wife are the sweetest people!  As retired parents and grandparents with family living nearby, they already had their hands pretty full.  

But knowing a little of our story, and that my kids don't have a grandpa, Ray made a huge gesture one day in an email: he wanted to become the honorary grandfather to Catz and MrC.  Wow.  I was stunned but in a good way.  After talking it over with TechDaddy, and making it clear to Ray that we had no expectations, we happily accepted.

Since then we have felt so blessed.  Ray has sent birthday cards with a cool button to each of the kids as well as Easter cards.  When he sees them after church he gives them each a peppermint {my grandpa used to give me mints, too}.  And every time Ray's around he gives them a hug and tells them that he loves them.  Gee, makes me misty-eyed just remembering.

Isn't that so cool?  You see, connections can be made in any number of ways.  What ways has someone connected with you that made a positive impact on your life?  What connections have you made?