A Rozelle Tapestry

Here is a bit of a story that I've always planned on telling - today just happens to be the day for it. It will explain why I've never shared any birthdays with one of my 'brothers' and why I didn't have a 'sister' until after I graduated from college. For those of you who know the story I apologize for telling you something you already know, but personally, I never tire of it!

My parents were missionaries in Chile for just a short time when my father became very ill. Surgery was required and cancer was found....cancer that did not give him very long to live. This is where I wish you could hear my mom's personal testimony and the wonderful answers to prayer she was granted during this time. A few months later in August of 1983 my father, Eric Rozelle, went home to be with his Lord and Saviour - Dad was 31, Mom was 29, I was 7, and Chad was just a few months old. A couple years later she returned, a single mom, to the missionfield. (Yes, you can laugh at the picture.)

My family remained in Chile until I was in college, returning every 3 years or so back to the US and Canada on furlough. We saw most of our family at that time but my dad's older brother was a missionary in Europe and our furloughs rarely coincided so we didn't see much of Uncle Dave, Aunt Lenore and our three cousins Lincoln, Helaine, and Kendrick. Then, in early 1999, they went through the same thing we had. After going in for routine surgery in Scotland, Aunt Lenore died unexpectedly - Lincoln was 19, Helaine 13, and Kendrick 11. She'd been a missionary for close to 25 years when the Lord called her home.

That's when things started to happen that left no doubt in any of our minds that the Lord was at work and in complete control. Now, we all knew this all along....but still, none of us would have chosen for things to go the way they had - to lose our parent/spouse. And yet, the intricate patterns and plans for our lives suddenly began to be knit together into one bigger tapestry. Later that same year my mom married Uncle Dave, my dad's older brother. Some raised eyebrows at the short amount of time that had passed - but our family, those that loved and cared for each one involved, knew it was the Lord's doing. So, my cousins became my brothers and sister and my uncle became my father. It was an answer to a prayer that had started in my heart when I left for college. Selfishly while growing up I'd wanted to keep Mom to myself, but when I left home I realized I didn't want her to be alone once Chad and I were gone. And all along the Lord knew that he had a answer for me - different than anything I would have come up with or even chosen and yet perfect....to make the Rozelle tapestry just what He wanted it to be.

Now this is a brief version told from my point of view that doesn't really do justice to the whole ongoing story of what God has done and is doing in our lives. But know this, we serve an all-powerful, all-knowing God and will continue to put the rest of our lives into His hands to do with as He pleases.