On love found, love given, and paths not taken

22:1

In those days, my eldest daughter came to me,

not in haste,

but with careful steps.

22:2

She asked to speak with me and her mother alone,

and I knew by her voice

that this was not a small thing.

22:3

She said,

"Father, I do not seek a husband."

22:4

I waited.

22:5

She said,

"I have found love elsewhere."

22:6

Then she spoke the name

of her closest friend,

the daughter of our neighbor.

22:7

She lowered her eyes and said,

"I am sorry."

22:8

I asked her,

"For what?"

22:9

She said,

"For not giving you grandchildren."

22:10

Myriam reached for her hand

before I could speak.

22:11

My wife said,

"Children are not owed.

They are given."

22:12

I said,

"If you will not be a mother,

be a good aunt."

22:13

She looked up then.

22:14

I continued,

"To your brothers and sisters.

And to the brothers and sisters

of the one you love."

22:15

She smiled through tears.

22:16

That evening, the two young women came together,

uncertain of their welcome.

22:17

Christopher greeted them

as he greeted all others.

22:18

He asked them to sit.

22:19

For a long moment,

he said nothing.

22:20

At last he spoke,

"Tell me what you fear."

22:21

One said,

"That we are wrong."

22:22

The other said,

"That God will turn from us."

22:23

Christopher shook his head.

22:24

"God does not err in desire," he said.

22:25

"Nor does He make mistakes twice."

22:26

He said,

"If He has drawn you toward one another,

it is not to test you,

but to use you."

22:27

They asked,

"To use us for what?"

22:28

Christopher answered,

"For care that would otherwise be absent."

22:29

"For tenderness where none was expected."

22:30

"For watchfulness over those

who fall between families."

22:31

He said,

"Some are given children to raise."

22:32

"Some are given freedom to stand beside them."

22:33

Then my daughter asked him,

"And you, you have no one?"

22:34

Christopher smiled.

22:35

He said,

"I was given no hunger for such love."

22:36

"And that too was not an error."

22:37

"For because of it,

I could belong to all without division."

22:38

"And tend for the town

without leaving anyone behind."

22:39

The girls looked at one another,

and then at him.

22:40

Christopher said,

"Love is not measured by resemblance."

22:41

"It is measured by faithfulness."

22:42

"And by the good it leaves in its wake."

22:43

He stood then and said,

"Go in peace."

22:44

"Care well for one another."

22:45

"And do not apologize for the shape of your joy."

22:46

They left hand in hand.

22:47

Christopher watched them go,

and there was no sadness in him.

22:48

Only gratitude.

22:49

That night, my daughter slept without fear.

22:50

And I understood

that the family God builds

is wider than the one we imagine.