Discovering YOU Magazine February 2019 Issue | Page 9

Is It a Coincidence or One of God's Wonderful Miracles?

Submitted by Dr. Tunishai Ford

When I first met my younger brother, he was only four years old and I was seventeen. He was born as a result of my father's moral indiscretion. When I laid eyes on him, I loved him. Here was this skinny little boy with his silly little grin and sparkling brown eyes staring at me not fully understanding that I was his big sister. That was the first time I saw him, and not knowing that it would be over a decade later when I would see him again. I never forgot about that little fellow. For years I would day dream about him wondering what he looked like and how his life was going. He became my daily thought for years and I would pray that God would allow me to see my little brother again, although I had no clue as to how to pursue a search.

I was a single mom with a young son I needed to provide for when I took a job working for Lutheran Family Services. They had a housing facility for young girls who were wards of the state of Michigan. The facility was called Marlow House. I took this job out of desperation making $8.00 an hour. In fact, later, I learned that my co-workers mocked me because they knew with the type of degree and background I had; I should have applied for a better paying job. But I know now that God used that job to give me a much wanted "God wink" and He placed me in the right place at the right time.

One day, I came to work on the afternoon shift, I was informed that one of our residences went AWOL and I had to take her clothes back to her foster mother's house. As instructed, I packed her belongings in the van and took them to the address that was given to me. No, I had never been to that neighborhood in Highland Park before that day. I gathered up her bags and proceeded to take them to the front door. When I rang the doorbell, I saw a familiar face. I could not believe it. It was the woman who was the mother of my little brother; I remembered meeting her many years ago. I was at a loss for words, but I managed to bring myself to ask to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. I asked her to tell me her name and she confirmed what I knew in my heart. Then the next question came from my mouth----Are you the mother of Shavell? She confirmed it.

I introduced myself and revealed to her who I was and she was shocked. Then the hardest question was asked-----

"When I rang the doorbell, I saw a familiar face. I could not believe it."