Vamarr Hunter visited his local bakery every week for more than ten years before discovering a lifechanging secret — the owner he had come to know and love was none other than his biological mom.
“You can’t tell this story without thanking God,” Hunter told The Today Show’s Laura Jarett, “because I was just led the entire way.”
The father of four spent 13 years searching for his birth mom before seeking a genealogist’s help in 2022.
That’s how Lenore Lindsey, the founder of Give Me Some Sugah, ended up with his number.
South Chicagoans flock to Give Me Some Sugah for comfort, community and baked goods. Lindsey looks out for regulars like Hunter, and the two formed a friendship over his favorites — lemon bars and pancakes.
But when Lindsey received her long-lost son’s phone number, she didn’t know Hunter was on the other end. The 67-year-old spent most of her life remembering the baby she gave up for adoption with a lingering sense of shame.
“Every time I think about how I disappointed my parents, that’s just very overwhelming for me,” she confessed about her teenage pregnancy. “All I could think about [when I got pregnant] was how I could make this better for my parents and just kind of go on.”
When Lindsey summoned the nerve to dial the number on the bakery’s phone, Hunter answered: “Ms. Lenore? I didn’t order anything.”
The conversation that followed involved “a lot of screaming,” the two recalled, sitting side-by-side. “A lot of, ‘Oh, my God!’”
In hindsight, Lindsey says, she sees how much they are alike. When he first visited her bakery, she remembered noticing how much Hunter’s laugh sounded like her brother’s.
The sweet story could have ended. But, As Psalm 23 tells us, God often blesses us with more than we need, filling our cups to overflowing.
When Hunter and Lindsey learned about their connection, Lindsey was recovering from breast cancer surgery. Soon after, she had a stroke and could no longer keep up with the store.
So, Hunter spent nights learning to bake. When Lindsey deemed him proficient, he quit his job to run the store full time. Now, the two run the shop side by side.
“I couldn’t just sell it to anybody or have anybody coming in,” Lindsey reflected. “They had to feel it. They had to feel the people. [Hunter] loves it like I love it. That’s huge for me.”
She jokes that it doesn’t hurt Hunter’s cakes are better than hers.
Hunter says God has used his experience to open people’s hearts to Him.
People that I don’t necessarily imagine were very spiritual before, they have been coming [and saying] ‘Man, that’s God.’” Hunter told Jarret. “They have an awakening of their own faith.”
While Hunter and Lindsey shared their story with Today Show cameras, careful viewers might notice the open Bible on a stand in the shop’s corner. Underneath stands a plaque emblazoned with Numbers 6:24-26 (KJV) — a perfect description of the generous way God redeemed this once painful situation.
Amen.
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