This afternoon, in Grove City, PA, my grandson Joshua William marries his college sweetheart, Becca. My son-in-law, Stephen is marrying them. I so wish I could have been there. Unfortunately, that was not possible. I am looking forward to hearing all about it from Denise.
Stephen, Denise and Bekah left Enterprise, AL sometime Thursday afternoon and drove all night to Canton, OH where Stephen's parents live. Grove City is about an hour or so away from Canton. Stephen's folks will be at the wedding and I imagine Stephen's sister, Susan will go too.
This is a very special day because on a wintery day in January of 1987, after many hours of hard labor, Denise delivered Joshua by c-section. She and Stephen were seniors in high school. They had decided to relinquish Joshua for adoption and his adoptive parents were there at the hospital. Josh went home to San Luis Obispo and subsequently adopted.
We saw him in September of that year on the Sunday he was dedicated at SLO Nazarene. It was grandparents Sunday. This would be the last time Denise would see him. We saw him 2 other times, the last time when he was 3 years old. It was an open adoption so we all knew where each other was and from time to time would hear bits of news about him.
During the summer of 2005, Josh contacted Stephen via email and thus began a relationship with his birth parents and siblings. He chose to attend Grove City College in Pennsylvania and in October of 2006, the family gathered at Stephen's parents home in Canton, OH to meet Josh and spend some time with him. It was a great weekend, although I believe a bit overwhelming for Joshua.
He and Becca met, I believe, their sophmore year of college. She is from Pennsylvania. After they were engaged, Josh asked Stephen if he would marry them. Stephen said yes. He did pre-marital counseling with them via webcam.
God's hand has been in this whole situation from the beginning. Denise's pregnancy was so heart renching in so many different ways, however I truly believe God's love for us and our trust and belief in Him helped us to get through. Josh and Becca's wedding today, the fact that Stephen will be marrying his first born son and Denise is there to witness her first child be married is an awesome thing. God is so good!! I will be there in prayer.
Josh and Becca are moving to SLO after a honeymoon on Maui. His grandmother has a condo there. In October a reception is being held in SLO for friends and family who are not able to attend the wedding. We will be there to join in the celebration and meet my new granddaughter-in-law.
It will take some getting use to having two granddaughters with the same name. Rebecca (Becca) and Rebekah (Bekah), Denise's daughter. Thankfully they spell their names differently. :)
Congratulations to Josh and Becca! You are loved so very much.
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Cleta's Easy-Kine Shoyu Chicken
4 hours ago
Wow Betty, thanks for sharing this story. I was a bit confused sorting out the different people at first, especially when I first thought that Becca was Bekah . . . hahaha. I'm so glad that things worked out for everyone. Today, is indeed a very special day for you and your family. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI know it is a bit confusing. I don't know how we are going to be referring to them. We also have 2 Joshua's. And for years now it has been a lot of explaining about each one. Gerry's son Erik who lives in Idaho named his second son Joshua. So when talking about either of them, it was Joshua William and Joshua LaMar. I must say it would make me upset at times. I use to only tell people who I knew would understand about Denise's Joshua. After we all got together in October 2006 I started talking about him more openly. One of my step daughters told me it was like I was protecting him and I guess I've always done that.
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