Thursday, October 1, 2009

How I Came To Be--Expect A Mystery


Ellis Island Interior
Ellis Island Exterior
 In many ways, it’s still a mystery…how I came to be. During a visit to Ellis Island's American Family Immigration History Center, I was delightfully surprised to be able to locate and obtain an authentic copy of the ship manifest page from the ship, Princess Irene, which brought my maternal birth grandparents, Olympio and Vincenza from their home in Scontrone, Italy, through the port of departure in Naples to Ellis Island on August 30, 1906.

Just seeing their two names listed one underneath the other on the ship manifest page gave the mystery such a tangible basis in reality. She was only 16 years old, he was just 24, and they were on their way to live with cousins in Chicago.

What compels a 16 year old girl to board a ship in Italy, facing days on the ocean in most likely uncomfortable, even dangerous, conditions for a destination yet unknown to her?

Somehow she and her fiancé, Olympio, were so motivated to start a new life in a new country that they left their home in Scontrone, Italy, and traveled to New York City, eventually settling in Chicago. They married and had a daughter, Lydia, in 1911.



How I Came To Be
  
Olympio
Vincenza
Lydia
Lydia & Vincenza on Mother's Day 1953
I met my birthmother, Lydia, in 1983, when I was 30 years old, and Lydia was 72. Lydia explained to me the circumstances of my conception, birth, and adoption. During a Memorial Day holiday get-away weekend with a gentleman in 1952, Lydia, at age 41, became pregnant with me. When she realized she was pregnant, she told the gentleman with whom she had spent the weekend and he was unwilling to help her. Her mother, Vincenza, did not want her daughter, a single mother at age 41, to disgrace her family with an illegitimate child, so Lydia left Chicago to live with a relative in Miami, Florida. In October, around the time of Columbus Day, she went to a back-alley abortionist to abort me, but when the abortionist examined her and realized she was over four months pregnant, he told her the abortion might kill her, and he refused to do it. Lydia made arrangements with the Salvation Army hospital in Jacksonville to give me up for adoption. On Friday the 13th she gave birth to me, and signed the papers giving me up for adoption on Valentine’s Day 1953.

Plans to Give Me Hope and a Future

Beth, July 1953
I was adopted a few months later by loving Christian parents. I grew up in church, active in Sunday School and missions organizations. I prayed to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at the age of 10, and was baptized by immersion following my salvation. I married Jack Miller on Mother’s Day 1973 and finished my bachelor’s degree in education in 1975, and my master’s degree in education in 1977. Our daughter, Tracy, was born in 1979, and our son, Jason, was born in 1991. After serving in various teaching and supervisory positions, I was selected as the state consultant for gifted education programs by the Florida Department of Education in Tallahassee, and other leadership roles, now serving as a ministry assistant at Lakes Church, my home church.


Every Moment Was Laid Out Before a Single Day Had Passed


During an awe-inspiring trip to Israel in March 2000, I was baptized in the Jordan River as a recommitment of my faith. I grow closer to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every day through prayer, worship, and the study of His Word. I believe there are no “accidents” and every conception and every birth is part of God’s Sovereign Plan. I rest and find comfort in these life verses: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (Psalm 139:13-16) 
 

My prayer, the desire of my heart is, “Lord, I want to delight in you! Center my heart in knowing you more and loving you more day by day. Help me to discover that there is fullness of joy in your presence and to take great delight in my relationship with you. May my heart desire you above everything else.” It’s been many years since I first began to pray this prayer in March 2000 after returning from my trip to Israel in which I walked beside the Sea of Galilee and on the Mount of Olives, to all the historical sites in Jerusalem, Capernaum, and Bethlehem. During this time in my study of the Scriptures, I came to a place in my life where I wanted, more than anything else, to love God more. I began to pray, “Lord, I want to delight in you!” God is so inconceivably good. He’s not looking for perfection. He already saw it in Christ. He’s looking for affection. That’s why every lasting change will invariably be a change of heart. He’ll even supply the heart, if we’ll ask him.

My daily prayer continues to this day, “Lord Jesus, give me a heart which yearns for Your Presence, a yearning for You that draws me over and over into Your Presence, a yearning that makes only a few days without time in prayer and Your Word seem like an eternity. Give me a heart which is motivated first and foremost by a desire for You, not for what You can do for me, but a yearning for Your Presence. Give me a heart that wants You more than anything else You could give, to love You and know You more than anything in life. Give me a heart that takes what You have made known to me and makes You re-known to everyone else, a heart that makes Your name and renown the desire of my heart. Give me a heart to feel Your Holy Spirit woo me once again to the place where I meet You. In the simplicity of my prayer time, give me a heart to be suddenly confronted by the majesty of my Redeemer—the One Who is responsible for any good in me. Lord, each morning, give me a heart that seeks Your forgiveness for past sins, and welcomes Your fresh mercies which fall like manna from Heaven, and once again move my heart. I surrender all. Morning after morning.”

My daily relationship with our living Lord Jesus reinforces my belief in the sovereignty of God, that nothing comes into my life that is not filtered through God's hands of love. I believe there are no “accidents.” I believe God planned who my birth parents would be and who my Mom and Dad would be, and both influences, plus His, are needed to help me become all that He created me to be. I believe that God sees the end from the beginning. He knows me intimately, He knit me together in my mother's womb, one day I will see Him face-to-face and I will know as I am known...until then, I will expect a mystery. It is His plan that’s important, not my desire.


I didn't bring myself into this world, and I can’t take myself into heaven. I really don’t know what is best for me or for those I love. I ask God to make me sensitive to the reality that He is in control, and that He is using this--even this--to conform me to the image of His Son. I want that most of all. I train my mind to acknowledge God’s hand in whatever it is I'm living with. I practice words like, “I don’t know,” “I will trust,” “I can’t explain,” “I release it all,” because God is sovereign. He is the beginning, He will be the ending, and in between, by His grace, He lets us be part of His perfect plan, for His glory and for our good. In the meantime, I will expect a mystery.

Beth & Lydia in Chicago, July 1983


14 comments:

  1. What a beautiful story about God's plan for your life--even before you were born. :)

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment! Many blessings to you ❤️

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  2. Just read this for the second time. Beth, it is wonderful how things worked out for you. You do great at blogging! I need to "get with it" and add more to my blog.

    Karen

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    1. Karen, Thank you so much for taking time to read my blog for the second time and leave a comment! I also want to thank you for reaching out to me last week at the Florida Christian Writers Conference at Lake Yale. It was so kind of you to invite me to sit with you and have lunch, and the individual meetings you encouraged me to sign up for with the two editors turned out so well! I have a lot to follow-up on! Thank you, again, for your many kindnesses to me :)

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  3. Beth, I found my way to your story this morning as I read the incourage blog (when someone let's you go...). Thank you for sharing your story. You sound amazing! I liked the quote you posted from Marcy Wineman Axness. It expressed for me most of my life. My mom was raped right after the war in Munich, Germany. Thank God she didn't abort me. When I was three she left me to come to the United States. I didn't see her again until I was almost 9. I became a ward of the courts at 14. My journey took me to many places, emotionally, spiritually and physically. I came to realize that God was with me every step of the way. With HIS help I became a survivor. HE has been so good to me. Last year I was Baptized. Yay! I am so blessed with a wonderful family, husband and life. You are so right. There are no accidents! God bless you!

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    1. Thank you for your kind comments. I am also one of the facilitators for Sherrie Eldridge's All Adoptee Growth Group, which you would be welcome to join. You can find it at this link:
      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ALL-ADOPTEE/

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    2. Thank you for the invitation. I'm wondering if I qualify? I was adopted at 9 by the man my mother married when I was three. She left me in Germany with her mother who was killed when I was 5. I lived with with different people until my mother came to Germany to bring me to the states when I was almost 9. It's such a long story. Eventually ended up in Foster care. Would I qualify?

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    3. Yes! Absolutely you would be so welcome in our All-Adoptee Growth Group. We are going through Sherrie Eldridge's workbook, Under His Wings, a work that we believe God is using to heal the hearts of adopted, orphaned, foster, and waiting children throughout the world! All you have to do is go to this link, and just put a simple sentence like the one you have above, and you will be warmly welcomed by our All-Adoptee Group :) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ALL-ADOPTEE/

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  4. Beth- your testimony brought tears. Thank you for sharing the path that brought you here..with amazing pictures! I echo the beautiful prayers of your heart today...which are so beautifully written. This line got me: "Give me a heart that takes what You have made known to me and makes You re-known to everyone else" I'm so glad I am your linkup neighbor!

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    1. Karen, thank you so much for your heart-felt comment! I was so encouraged as I shared this today on the (in)courage link-up, to look back and see how the Lord has used my willingness to share my story in this very first blog post in 2009 to help me trust Him day-by-day and share my heart openly and honestly in now over 100 blog posts these past five years...God is so good ALL the time :)

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing, Beth. I came to this blog from your blog entry for Holley Gerth's Coffee For the Heart - July 8, 2014. You have such a positive attitude. I make your prayer my prayer - the one in the last paragraph. God is so good to allow the paths of sisters in Christ to cross like this. Praise Him!

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    1. Thank you so much for responding, Cindy! I so agree with you that God is so good to allow us to have "divine appointments" especially as He connects-the-dots through Holley Gerth's Coffee For Your Heart! I look forward to linking-up my blog post to hers on Wednesdays because of the wonderful sisters in Christ I meet there. Thank you, again :)

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  6. Wonderful story Beth! I'm in your Feathered nest group. Its nice to hear more of your story! My husband is Italian also.

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    1. Sherri, thank you so much! I love our Feathered Nest group! It's funny, one day the girl waxing my eyebrows asked me, "Are you Italian? You have Italian follicles!" God knows our DNA :)

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