I Missed Someone and… This Is What Happened Nearly 30 Years Later

This is one of the many miracles God has done in my life, and I’m sharing to give hope in relationships matters to (maybe) some of you. Don’t give up prayer!!

When I was a child, my aunt dated a young man (let’s call him Rob) who was loved by everyone in the family. They dated for almost ten years. I have happy memories with him, for he was a fun, playing uncle to Little Me. My aunt was not a Christian, but my parents and grandparents were. God worked in Rob’s heart, and he became a follower of Jesus too.

My aunt disagreed and they broke up. It was violent and very sudden, and we were left with little explanation and no chance to say goodbye. Little Me (I was 5)  didn’t understand why her favourite uncle was not part of the family anymore.  I grew up missing him. My parents got over the loss, but my grandparents never did; my aunt finally got another boyfriend and led her life way from God.

When the Internet got into homes and when I got a computer for myself, one of the first things I did was to google Rob’s name. I found out he lived abroad and was still a committed Christian. I still missed him and hoped I would be able to see him, one day.

One fine day – and that was 27 years after my aunt and Rob broke up – I was attending a huge Christian conference with a couple of friends. There were hundreds and hundreds of people. As I was standing there, someone walked past me.

“Oh my… goodness that’s ROB!!”

I started shaking. 27 years later and I see this man and I think that’s Rob. My friends asked me –are you ok?

“Yeah, I think I’ve just seen my auntie’s ex whom I have not seen for 27 years.”

That’s not a usual thing to say.

I decided to walk past him too, just to make sure.
I did. I read his name tag. That WAS Rob. Same eyes, same smile, less hair.
I didn’t know what to do, my emotions had gone for a roller-coaster ride.
Then I remembered the many times I had prayed/dreamt/hoped of seeing him again.

So I gathered my brain cells back together and went to talk to him.

“Erm, hello… Erm…  I’m Emma-Li, X and Y’s daughter…”

And we had a little chat. He was happy to see me, he asked about my family, about me.
And when we parted, he said the only one word I need to hear from him:

“Well, goodbye!”

At that very moment I felt a relief deep in and I knew my heart would be at peace with this story; I felt literally healed by God: that was the ‘goodbye’  Little Me never heard when she was five.

A year later at the same conference I was able to see him again and get a picture with him to show my parents. To this day, I am the only person in the family to have met Rob again and I am so thankful to God both for the opportunity and for the “Goodbye” I needed to hear so much.

And it was at a time when God was healing me from other wounds too -in a more normal kind of way though 🙂

God is good, he knows what we need, and he still performs miracles.

Don’t give up hope!

Emma-Li.