بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Alhamdulillah, always. Today I experienced something completely new, completely unknown before. While visiting relatives, for the first time, of the current potential, I found a...warmth, genuine acceptance, khair, from people I had either never met or only ever said salaam to when I was kid...yet in this moment, somehow after those evolutions in life, the circle Allah brings back around, these were people there, for me. Like...whaaat? Huh? Amazed in a number of inexplicable ways. What makes this so mind-blowing is that what I came across today, I never even knew from my own family o_O...those who've known me every day of my life lol. Wtf indeed. Truth be told, my fam never did ill by me, perhaps the only thing I could say is I didn't find acceptance from them till much later in life, acceptance of me being me and not some gibbering regurgitated notion from their culture and preconceptions. But fam still loved, still supported me through it all. But this acceptance is a tricky thing, because it truly is the undercurrent of belonging. People can give a person all the love they want, all the support, but if they haven't accepted them, how does that one truly think or feel any belonging? SubhanaAllah. I don't gripe against anyone, just the sheer irony of what I've known versus today is just so contrasting I can't process it yet. 

Today I can only call a monumental blessing from my Rabb, that He makes strangers as heartfelt friends in an instant of His choosing. Whatever the road ahead of me in this life, I can say with ease it matters not what trials I find here. The key is just that I remain a purposeful 'abd of Allah, and the rest is what it is. May He also forgive me and my fam for all our mistakes and protect us from all evil and ill-feeling, ameen.