Charlie Peacock has always been one of my favorites. In the wayback years, he wrote a song called, “Now Is The Time For Tears,” which I hearken to during tragedies like what happened this week in Uvalde, Texas.
As much as the Left loves to mock “thoughts and prayers,” the more information discovered about what unfolded at Robb Elementary, the more we discover that thoughts and prayers, and a time of silence are the very thing that is needed. This is not just for Uvalde but also for our nation.
Below are the prayers and encouragements I offer to Uvalde based upon the words of Prophet Isaiah.
He sent me to the brokenhearted.
Proclaim liberty for the captives
Freedom for the Prisoner
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of our God’s vengeance,
To comfort those who are in mourning
to console the mourners in Zion—
Give them a crown for beauty in exchange for theirashes.
The oil of joy to comfort those in mourning
A garment of praise to a spirit in despair.
We need Feel-Good Friday now more than ever.
This week, a video of two young, sweet boys, who had been raised together but were separated after a year. Their first sighting of each other after their separation was heartbreaking.
See this Instagram video by @goodnews_movement https://t.co/CvuuoQs7Cv
— Jennifer OO (@joliveroconnell) May 27, 2022
The joy that the older boy experiences when he is reunited with his younger brother is truly touching. Tears have many purposes, and each circumstance will determine which one they are.
Basal tears lubricate our eyes, reflex tears form in response to irritants such as smoke and dirt, and emotional tears flow when we’re sad or overjoyed. They are all made up of oils, enzymes and antibodies mixed with salt water. However, they also have different molecules. Emotional tears, for example, carry protein-based hormones, including leucine-enkephalin, a natural painkiller released when the body is under stress.
Whether it’s grief or joy, the body experiences it as stress, and tears are produced to mute the experience of pain, and to level out our joy. Isn’t it wonderful our tears support us in this way? It’s even more amazing that the young can come back together.
The story of siblings coming together was 48 years in the making.
Trish Morgan Talley and Michele Dugan had no idea that they were related. They had lived in the same area for over a decade and each of their children graduated the same high school in 2018.
Michele Dugan’s story was one that started with foster care, but where she was fortunate to be adopted at the age of seven.
Dugan was raised by a single mom, who could not care for herself or her children. Dugan spent six months in foster homes, and seven months later, she was adopted. She is very close with and grateful for her adoptive family, she says — and her biological brother, Michael, was always housed with her too.
Dugan became more independent as she got older, and she began to wonder about her roots.
Dugan had already created an Ancestry.com profile. Morgan-Tilley, though not listed on the site, was Ken Foster. Foster reached out and told Dugan that she was a sister.
Dugan was the first to initiate contact. Morgan-Tilley and Dugan exchanged Facebook messages, and they arranged lunch dates.
But after the two sisters got over their stomach butterflies at lunch, they couldn’t catch up enough. Morgan-Tilley said she knew immediately that they had to be related because of Dugan’s resemblance to their father.
“It was like looking at a ghost because she is exactly our dad’s twin,” Morgan-Tilley said. “The blue eyes, the hair, everything. So I couldn’t stop staring at her. Like, you’re definitely my sister, for sure, 1,000 percent.”
The sisters figured out that they had the same DNA and were born in the same year. However, they weren’t twins. They discovered that Morgan-Tilley’s father had an affair with Dugan’s mother, which resulted in Dugan’s conception. There was a break up between Morgan-Tilley’s parents because of this, but they ultimately reconciled.
The children were unaware of it. Though apprehensive over the prospect, Dugan ultimately met Jackie Morgan, Morgan-Tilley’s mother.
“The first thing she said to me ever when meeting her for the first time — and she gave me the biggest hug — she said, ‘Michele, I want you to know that I loved your dad. And I want you to know that any daughter of his is a daughter of mine,’” Dugan recalled.
“So that’s my sister’s mom. That’s my new mom too,” she added.
Dugan, a Realtor and a licensed real estate agent, met Morgan-Tilley by chance. The two formed a business, “Sisters Selling Vegas.” In 2021, the enterprise closed 44 transactions and earned nearly $12 million in sales volume. This is a partnership that has won!
Dugan and Morgan Talley now live together and love their business.
Now that they’ve found each other after all these years, Morgan-Tilley and Dugan are hard to tear apart. They run a real estate company together. The sisters also exercise together.
“We say this: We missed the first 48 years, so now we’re just making sure that the next 48, or however many we have, we’re going to do everything we can to make it the best,” Dugan said.
Both women grew up with only brothers in the house — and as an adult, Dugan has two sons with her husband and no daughters — so finding that female kinship after such a long time has been very special.
“I always wanted a sister, always,” Morgan-Tilley said. “I would pray, ‘Please, Lord — I need somebody to confide in, I need a best friend.’”
An example living and breathing of beauty in ashes
I hope you spend this long weekend with your family and others whom you love, and don’t forget to hug them and hold them close. Tomorrow cannot be promised.
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