A man who had been given up for adoption as a baby could never have known that when he finally decided to take that DNA test, it would trigger an incredible story of pain, loss and God’s faithfulness.
“I have a son!”: Texas teenager surprises teacher with adoption
At nearly the exact same time he was taking the DNA test, a total stranger who had just discovered he had a long lost brother was doing the very same thing. Sometimes it seems that God is just showing off, and this story is definitely one of those times.
https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/982317486170292224
A few years ago, Matt and Jason Howerton’s mother tragically passed away in a car accident. But shortly prior to her passing, their mother revealed to her son Matt that the boys had another brother, one that she had when she was a teenager and gave up through adoption.
“I think about him every day, I just want to know that he’s okay, that he’s alive.” she told Matt with tears in her eyes. Moved by his mother’s tears and newfound knowledge of a brother, Matt promised to find him.
But mom had a disheartening reply. “No, we can’t. It was a private adoption.”
Undeterred, Matt doubled down and promised, “I’ll find him one day,” he said. He wrote down his brothers birth name, and placed it on his bedside.
Matt decided to take a DNA test in hopes of finding his brother. It took him weeks to wait for the right moment to take the test. Five weeks later, he found himself checking the website regularly to see if any matches come up. One morning he was “blindsided” when he received an email from someone on the ancestry website.
The email read:
“Hi, my name is John and I was adopted, I just did this ancestry test. Since you came up as closest family member, I was wondering if you would be willing to talk, I’ll give my number… I’m looking for my birth mother or parents. Or anyone I’m related to. Thanks.”
Matt was stunned, and wrote, “The message hit me like a ton of bricks, could this be the son my mom always wanted to meet?”
The second he opened Johns profile he knew he had found his brother. He began crying, overtaken with emotion, praying as tears fell down his cheeks.
Matt wrote,
“He had her long, strawberry-blonde hair and kind eyes. I could barely contain myself, it was a powerful mix of emotions; a kind of joyous grieving. I tried to compose myself because I was dying to hear his voice. Being that I was very close to my mom, it felt like I was channeling her emotions in her absence.”
Matt, gathering himself, picked up the phone and called John.
Here’s how Matt described their emotional conversation:
“Hey, John?” I said in a shaky voice. Is it really you? I thought. “This is Matt, was your birth name Richard?”
He replied, “Yes, I was born in Chicago.”
I shamelessly broke down in tears. “Oh my God, we thought we couldn’t find you!”
The sentiment was mutual but I could tell he was in shock and I knew what he would ask next. “Is mom still alive?”
I paused. “I have some bad news, mom was killed in a car accident less than a year ago. I’m sorry.”
He responded, “Oh.. I figured she might not be. I wish I would’ve been able to meet her.”
I went on to explain how she told me about him with tears in her eyes and clearly loved and missed him which meant the world to him.
“She wanted to know you were okay and that you had a good life.” I said, holding back tears. “Oh, I did. She gave me to a good family.”
I took a sigh of relief, “She would be so happy to hear that.”
Matt and John have kept in contact since the initial conversation. The family is thankful for the reunion, and thanks God for the orchestration. And the powerful story is really resonating so far:
https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/982655903135617025
“Incredibly, we did the test at the exact same time, the results were within 12 hours of each other. Upon realizing this, we both thanked God for reuniting us, it was divinely ordained. We don’t know why God chooses the times and events that he does but we trust in him wholeheartedly. After the tears, John wanted to know if I was a follower of Christ which I am,” Matt stated in his post.
Jason Howerton, one of the brothers, took to Twitter to express his excitement over finding out he had another brother. Summing up the incredible situation, he said “life really can be a tragic, crazy, and beautiful thing.”
https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/982323548822888449
Soon after he tweeted this, Lori, his niece tweeted at him.
https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/982331259295805440
There is clearly a lot of exciting days to come for the Howerton family, as they get to know the sibling they never knew they had. We definitely are going to stay tuned to see what happens next!