His Name Was Larry

We sat side by side, strangers, picking at our phones and occasionally looking up to determine what the excitement was about on "Wheel of Fortune." Waiting for test results in a heart clinic would typically not be the high-light of anyone's day.

I'm not sure who spoke first but within minutes, we were animated and conversational. If you spend any amount of time with anyone, there will be a connection. Well, it just so happened that this man's golf partner and good friend had been married to a sister-in-law of mine. Years ago....

There was talk of the love of golf, a history of smoking, states we had lived in, a leg that wasn't working as it should due to improper blood flow, retirement, and family.

Larry was an adopted child, rejected (his term) by his biological mother but chosen (his term) by his adoptive parents and loved. Loved. In spite of this unconditional love, he longed for the family he never knew and wondered why they didn't want him. He had tried contact with discovered sisters and was shunned. Cousins welcomed him, but nothing ever felt right.

"Because of all this, I never married," he said quietly. We sat there, looked at others, and I wondered how this person just happened to sit next to me.

"Who do you suppose I'll be with someday?" His voice was soft, almost a whisper. I thought I knew what he meant, but wasn't sure.

"When it's all over and done, which family will I be with?" he asked. His dark brown eyes surrounded by deep wrinkles twinkled and then glassed over. ..this was not a question that had just occurred to him, I could tell.

"Both of them," I replied and smiled at his tender question. "You'll be surrounded by both families."

"You really think so?" he asked and apologized for the tears.

"Of course. You will be."

I was  called back for test results, but before I left, I asked him, "What's your name?"

"My name is Larry," he answered.

God has His finger on everything. Everything from quiet conversations to what happens eternally.

His name was Larry. He's a part of God's family... as are you, and you and you.