July 17, 2011 - "Be Careful What You Wish For"

Good Sabbath to you all, and welcome to Chapel this beautiful Sunday.

Today, I yield the floor to my mom. She got sidetracked today and totally forgot about my needing her services until almost 10:30PM our time. By then I was totally wiped out and I told her that SHE could be the guest speaker. I hope you don't mind, but honestly I think maybe this will teach her a lesson.

We were watching a movie on TV today and one of the moments that stuck with us was when someone said "People make plans and God laughs!". Turns out this is an old Jewish proverb. No matter how carefully we plan our lives or how fervently we wish for an event to occur that will (we think) change our lives forever, God knows exactly what is in store for us and he smiles. Personally, I think anyone that could make a duck billed platypus and keep a straight face has GOT to have a great sense of humor. But I digress....!

My mom is an Investigator. She used to actually have time to play Bunko with the girls once a month many years ago. One of the ladies in her Bunko group was going to be turning 30 years old in about six months. Several times she mentioned how she'd like to find her biological Dad before her birthday and she asked if Mom could help. All she she'd been told about him was that he was a Navy SEAL who had a one night stand with her mom, a dance teacher, the night before he was shipped off to Viet Nam during the war, and he never knew her mom was pregnant. Her mom knew him only by his nickname and his last name, but she had no idea where he was from nor anything about his family, or if he even had one.

Mom's Bunko buddy was a happily married, stay at home mom, with three kids, but this was her everly most heartfelt wish. Mom caved and said she'd see what she could do. After hunting high and low, she found that Spanky (name changed for privacy purposes) received a traffic ticket in Ventura County, CA several years earlier, and from there she got an address, then a SS#. She also found out he was driving a RV and had mailing addresses were that were campgrounds. At the last one she found the manager said Spanky was planning on driving up the 395. She called campgrounds going up the 395 and hit the jackpot. The heartwarming part is that this man had no idea he'd fathered a child, and the only other child he had and would ever have, had been recently killed in a car accident. He was absolutely stunned and delighted. He cried, his daughter cried and they both had a happy reunion!!

Not all stories maintain their happy ending, though. This particular "find" gave everyone chills when the daughter reunited with her birth father. She never thought it could happen based on the fragments of information her mother could provide. She had only hoped that maybe she could at least meet him by the time she turned 30, a few months away from her giving Mom the assignment. She and her father were both initially ecstatic.

They traveled back and forth several times hoping to establish some sort of bond. Spanky met his three grandchildren and it seemed like a miracle had taken place. Coincidentally, the husband of our client and Spanky had identical leopard tattoos on their forearms (same arm, too), smoked the same brand of cigarettes and drank the same kind of beer. Almost seems like heaven stepped in, doesn't it?

But a year or so after the initial reunion, the father and his newest wife went back to their vagabond ways. Although the lines of communication had been opened, they gradually fizzled out. The daughter, having had "closure", began to see that she wasn't "discarded" and "valueless". Her self esteem blossomed. She ended up taking a full time job, leaving her husband and three children, and taking off with a business man who was exactly the opposite from her father and husband. We lost all contact with her after that.

This definitely gives credence to the old saying "Be careful what you wish for!" She had what most would say was an ideal life, a happy marriage and three beautiful children. Within a year of her wish coming true, she lost it all and began a new life. Was this God's plan all along? Did Mom and the Bunko Buddy meet because it was destined to happen? Did the father find peace and closure knowing that he had a child that would carry on his bloodline? Did the end truly justify the path to get there? How many lives were shattered or redirected because of one innocent little wish coming true.

There's another saying we like and that's "Let Go, and Let God!". Have faith that your destiny is a given and you will be given choices to make as part of the journey toward the end. How you will be remembered will depend on the choices you made and the trust you placed in God. You can fight and argue and deny that which God has placed before you but ultimately you must trust in the Lord to show you the way.

Mom's mother-in-law (rest her soul), when confronted with a situation, would say "Is it my will or Thy will?". When the answer came to her, she knew what path she had to follow, and she did so in peace and confidence.

Thank you so much for letting my mom share. I edited a bit as she tends to ramble, but I think we got a pretty good inspirational message out there, don't you?

Before we go today, please take a moment to thank God for your friends, your family and the others in your life that provide you with love, comfort, and unconditional acceptance. Think about how you are all intertwined in your existence, and how grateful you are to have each other. Then, turn to your neighbors and wag your tails or fluff your feathers as a sign of peace.

We have a new member today. Her name is Amber from Hesperia. Please join me in welcoming Amber and her mother, Cynthia, to our Chapel. I hope we can talk Amber into telling us something about her life in the near future.

The Ladies of the Leather Collar have been experimenting with freeze dried beef and chicken treats. We've already had some of the liver variety and they are simply FABULOUS, and to die for.

Go in peace and let the Ladies know your thoughts on their new recipe before you leave. We are fortunate to have such creative ladies to provide refreshments while teaching the little ones some indispensable baking skills.

Blessings to you all... See you next Sunday

Mary-Margaret O'Brien
Lt. Chaplain - Yorkie Brigade Chapel
"Yorkie prayers are Angel's wishes!"
"Pups for PPL"
"A dog has lots of friends because he wags his tail and not his tongue." Anonymous