Tammy Harris began searching for her biological mother

Reunited

On the day after her 21st birthday, Tammy Harris began searching for her
biological mother. When she was two-years-old, she and her brothers were
taken from their mother (who had a serious drinking problem) and were
adopted by separate families.

Tammy wanted to know the identity of her mother. "I felt like I was
incomplete," she said. "I didn't know whose eyes I had. I didn't know where
my big feet came from. I wondered who I looked like."

"I knew they [her parents] were out there, and I wanted to find them before
they died."

Meanwhile, Joyce Shultz had been looking for her biological daughter for
almost 20 years, to no avail.

Harris and Shultz worked at the same convenience store. One day, Harris was
talking with another co-worker about her search for her mother. The
co-worker asked if she was having any luck. Shultz, overhearing part of the
conversation, asked, "Luck about what?"

Harris told her about her search and produced her birth certificate to show
to her. Upon seeing it, Shultz immediately knew that Harris was her
daughter. Shultz did not immediately reveal her identity; she didn't know
how Harris would react. Instead, she told Harris, "I might know somebody
who can help." She asked Harris for a baby picture. She took the picture
home and compared it to a baby picture she had; they were a match.

Shultz did not reveal her identity to Harris for three days. She wondered,
"Will she like me?" She told her boss, Ron Lynch, about the discovery.
Lynch brought the two into his office, so that Shultz could reveal her news.

When Harris walked into the office, she saw Shultz standing by the two baby
pictures. "Are you my mother?" Harris asked. Shultz said, "Yes."

"When she said 'yes,' I just fell into her arms. It felt so natural. We
held on for the longest time. It was the best day of my life.″ *

You and I are "the offspring of God" in that God created us; He created all
mankind. But because of our sins, we became lost and estranged from Him
(consider the Prodigal Son in Luke 15). But God never stopped loving us and
wanting us to "come home."

In order to "come home," our sins had to be "paid for." God paid the price
for our redemption by giving His one and only Son to die on the cross for
our sins (1 Peter 1:18-19). The means of reconciliation was accomplished
when Jesus died for us.

In order to "come home," we must accept God's offer of redemption. We must
place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in
repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and
be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
Then, as we continue to walk in the light of His Word, the blood of Jesus
continues cleanse us from sin and keep us in fellowship with God (1 John
1:7-9).

Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), but God still loves us and
wants us to "come home." If we'll humble ourselves and accept His offer of
redemption, we'll find that He's been lovingly, patiently waiting for us the
whole time. When we obey the Gospel, He will warmly say, "Welcome home."

It will be the best day of your life.

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from "Daughter Finds Biological Mother is Co-Worker"
by David Reed in www.apnews.com, March 5, 1991.