God’s Amazing Love & A Reunion Story

My sister Mary Ann and I had a special bond. Even though we were six years apart, we were best friends. My earliest special memory of her was when I was about five years old.

One fall day our Mom sent us outside to rake leaves. Well, I was too young to actually rake, so my sister had to rake the leaves and watch me at the same time. This was no easy task. I loved to climb trees and we had these very tall pine trees in our yard. So of course, I went right to my favorite one and started to climb.

Mary Ann yelled to me, “Cindy, do not climb that tree! You could get hurt.”

But you guessed it, I didn’t listen.

Then she screamed, “Come down here, we are going to be in big trouble!”

I reached out for the branch to climb down but I missed it. I was falling, screaming, and hearing my sister scream too. All of a sudden, I stopped falling. It felt like someone caught me. My sister’s face was as white as a ghost. She saw me be placed gently on the rocky ground, only no one was visible. I fell twenty feet, yet there was not one scratch on me – nothing at all. We were mesmerized.

We didn’t understand what or how this happened.

Mom came running out when she heard our screams. We told her what happened, but she got very mad at me. Then she told me not to tell stories, it was just my imagination again! My sister and I knew different. We didn’t know what happened, but we sure knew we did not imagine it. This incident knitted us together forever.

Over the years, my sister and I grew even closer. MaryAnn was now 21, and I was 15. We were still the best of friends. One day, my sister called for a family meeting. It was strange, I thought, we never did that. Mom, Dad, me, and my brother, Tom, gathered together and sat down at the kitchen table.

MaryAnn looked scared and worried. Then she told us her news – she was going to have a baby. My mother started to cry, and Dad was very unhappy and angry. My brother just shrugged it off. But I was so EXCITED, I was going to be an Aunt!

What Now?

The months passed, I knew my parents and MaryAnn were still so sad. There were many arguments. It was hard to listen to angry hurtful words. Then my sister told me – she had made the most courageous and loving decision, to give her baby up for adoption. She chose to give her child a chance for a better life than she could provide. At the time, I cried and cried. I didn’t understand. I was so angry.

On November 25, 1972, my nephew was born. I fell instantly in love. I was there at the hospital, looking at him through the nursery window. He was beautiful. I watched the nurses give him his first bath. I just couldn’t understand why we couldn’t take him home. That was the last time I saw him and I never stopped loving that baby boy or thinking about him. My sister and I would often talk about him, especially on his birthday and holidays. We just prayed for him and hoped he had a good, happy life.

Almost 40 years later, On September 23, 2012, my heart broke.

My sister passed away after a long illness. My daughter, my ex-husband, and I moved to Cortlandt Manor. I started going to a new church: Yorktown United Methodist. I was devastated and broken because I had lost my best friend. This church, the Pastor and all of the congregation welcomed me with open arms.

This is where I met my friend, Nan. One day during coffee hour, she invited me to her woman’s group called, Women of the Vine, which met on Friday afternoons. This group of women became “family”. We had tea and scones, Bible study and many other books, but it was so much more. It was my life preserver!

After a few months, Nan invited us to a Prayer and Healing Service at a church in Connecticut. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. There was singing, testimonies, and a guest speaker who shared what God had done in their life. After the service, prayer ministers would be around the church ready to pray for you.

I never went to church when I was growing up, so this was all new to me, but I was so in need of something … especially love to my broken heart. These prayer ministers touched me so deeply. They prayed for me, my family, my then ex-husband (and eventually our remarriage) for several years. I just knew I wanted to do that, too.

Yes, I got the calling.

I wanted to serve God so He could work through me to touch others the way they did for me. When I think back to when I was just five, and the story with the tree, I believe God saved me, and He surely had a plan.
On April 16, 2016, I was Commissioned as a Prayer and Healing Minister. I felt such happiness inside!

Think of what you long for more than anything else in your life. Then God surprises you and gives you something even greater. God is always present in our lives.

Cindy Frost

Two months later, something happened, and my life would never be the same.

On June 28, 2016, I was taking a power nap when my phone rang. I remember it being a very hot day and was exhausted. At first, I thought – whoever it is I’ll call them back. But NO! Something was nagging at me – ANSWER THE PHONE NOW! So I listened to that voice and answered.
It was my brother, who rarely calls me.

I answered hesitantly, “Hi Tom what’s up?“

He sounded so serious, “Cin?”

Nervously, I asked, “Tom what’s wrong?”

He quickly said, “nothing is wrong, it’s actually all right! Cin, remember the baby MaryAnn gave up for adoption?”

Haha, I snickered, “Tom, of course, WHY?”

He replied, “here in my inbox on Ancestry.com is a letter from him.”

I was jumping up and down and crying tears of JOY. I cannot explain the utter awe and jubilation I had at that moment and was in such a euphoric state, I could hardly get any words out. A million questions flooded my head. I went to Facebook and there was a friend request from my nephew, and his name was Jonathan.

The next day, there was the most beautiful letter from Jonathan. ️ We chatted all morning. It made me give thanks … God, I am the happiest person in the world! I, thank You and Praise You! I was in absolute awe!

This glorious story Of God’s amazing love is not over yet!

I asked my nephew what his Mom’s name was. After he told me, I was curious and searched through her Facebook and photos. I could just tell she was a wonderful person. She had the most beautiful, kind smile. I don’t know why, but I scrolled down through her friends. When I noticed who her friends were, it knocked me off my chair! I couldn’t stop shaking … there were two people listed as mutual friends. I scratched my head in disbelief; confused and thinking this is some kind of mistake.

How can my adopted nephew’s Mom be friends with two of my dear friends from Women of the Vine? How can Barbara and Nan be friends with his adoptive mom, Ginny?

So I called them and asked …

They said, “Yes, of course, you know her too! We are all Prayer and Healing Ministers!”

I didn’t recognize her. It turned out that Ginny and I were in different churches, but the same prayer ministry. We had been praying for our families for several years and didn’t realize we were praying for the same thing. I was praying for my nephew to be reunited with us and she was praying for her son to be reunited with his birth family. IMAGINE THAT!

On July 30, 2016, Jonathan and I were reunited after 43 years. I finally met Ginny and was introduced to Jonathan’s wife, Angela. It was a glorious day and my family, my brother, my nephew, Jonathan, and his family were all able to spend the day together and forge a relationship for what I hope will be years to come.

My heart exploded that day! It was and still is so amazing. It helped heal my heart from the loss of my sister. God is good and his love, amazing.

Never stop praying – God is always there️.

Cindy Frost

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I would like to say thank you to Cindy for sharing her story with us. She read my friend, Erin’s story of her own adoption and honored me with a different, but beautiful story involving an adoption. She graciously allowed me to share this with you, giving me more time to focus on my grandchildren this weekend than writing!

Speaking of grandchildren … boy do I have a few fun stories to share next week!

Much love,

Sandy

#enlighten #empower #inspire #educate and please, always #BeKind