“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet… Coincidences are God’s way of getting our attention.” –
Frederick Buechner I was raised in a Christian home and taught that being
gay is a sin. I went to a small private college affiliated with the United Church of Christ, and out of curiosity, enrolled in a class called
“Homosexuality and Civil
Liberties”. We studied the relevant biblical passages and I became convinced that it was not a sin after all. I was so persuaded, in fact, that I felt compelled to contribute to the LGBTQ community through researching biological correlates of same sex attraction for my graduate thesis.
Interestingly, I did not have any gay relatives or friends during that time period. I often struggled to explain the
reason why I had become such a passionate ally. During my thesis defense, a faculty member asked why I was interested in the topic and I mumbled something about the clues my research might provide to better
understanding gender expression in all people. Little did I know, God was preparing me. Ten years later, when my daughter was 15, I discovered that she is a lesbian. I thank God for His grace that becomes most visible in the miraculous way life unfolds to expose ironies, miracles and the subtle preparation for future journeys.