Six Degrees of Separation...or less, but you get my point.

M and I love Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman. I think I told you that last week. Anyway, this love of SCC brought about some events that I can only say came by the grace of God.
Okay, here goes in a nutshell-My very own "Six Degrees of Separation", if you will....

If it wasn't for a co-worker giving a difficult venipuncture to a donor, then I wouldn't have taken care of the donor, who I started having a great convo with, when I found out she went to the church where SCC was going, and I made a comment about our love for him and some of our "stuff" we had been dealing with in the past few years.
Because of the generosity of the donor, she got her bible study together to present us with 2 tix to SCC-I mean, I didn't know this woman!!, and that was a miracle all it's own, because it was so humbling and beautiful-both the concert and the generosity of wonderful people who don't sit in judgment.
If it wasn't for a friend who is going through a custody battle, she wouldn't have asked me to take her to church, which, because of I had just gone to the SCC concert there and the proximity of the church being between both our houses, I decided that was where we would go on Sunday night.
AAAANNNDDD--If it wasn't for the great feeling of non-judgment I got at said church on Sunday, and the comment card that I ALMOST didn't fill out asking about people in the church who had LGBT children, I wouldn't have met my angel. Her name is Shirley. She's probably between 70 and 80 years old. Her son came out in 1989. They are all evangelical Christians.
The first thing she asked me when I sat down w/ her at Tully's today was "what is it do you love about Marley?"
There is so much to say about this woman. So much so that I'm speechless. All I can say it that God has given me this angel who understands when I say that I'm tired of people of the same faith that I have looking at me with pity when I tell them about M, even though I'm telling them for the sake of information about how my life has changed and not because I need them to pray about it or give me sympathy or an occasional "God will change that if "she" prays about it more". She is a huge light. I walked in that door and when I saw her, I felt happy and blessed. She really was like a breeze in the desert.
Shirley is the poster child for Christian parents of LGBT children. Her son teaches law enforcement agencies all over about ethics in the workplace when it comes to LGBT issues. She doesn't admit it, but I have to say that he's where he is because his parents accepted him as their child and not by his decisions or way of life. In my opinion, he is strong in his Christian faith because his parents didn't tell him he was being sinful and that he needed to pray harder, or worry about what people thought.
About 9 years ago, I stood on Westport Beach in awe of how big God was compared to little me. Today, I'll never look at a Tully's the same way because of the same thing. Sound romantic? It was! God has sought me out by giving me His angels. He shows me, through people like Shirley and Sheryl (generous lady) that He means to do his work through love and acceptance, and I need to get on board. :D