The Other Side of Barrenness Part 3

I wanted to tell the rest of the story about my journey through to the Other Side of Barrenness. (Here's Part 1 and Part 2 if you'd like to read it to catch up.)

Actually this memoir is Chelsie's journey of faith through it all. She was 12.

Like I said in Part 2, about six months before I even got pregnant, Chels and her best friend began making baby items by faith. (By the way, Chels had never sewn before.) She would go over her friend's house every Wed. afternoon. At first they started small, making little bibs and such. Bear in mind that I did not know anything about this. I didn't have a clue.

They had been doing this, like I said, on and off for about 6 months. Then one evening while we were driving home, out of the blue she asked me if I was ever going to have another baby. She hadn't asked me that in a really long time, but the neat thing was that I actually thought I was pregnant but was just a few days short of taking a test to find out. So I was able to tell her, truthfully, "Oh, I'm sure one of these days"!

Now I'm going to take a little rabbit trail here and tell you how we told Chels, then I'll get back to the 'sewing'.

Several years before, Chels and I came upon the cutest, tiniest onesie at a garage sale. Just for the fun of it, I bought it and we called it our 'faith' outfit. I kept it in my nightstand, and every once in awhile she'd pull it out and hold it believing that someday she was going to be a sister.


When we confirmed that I was, indeed, pregnant, we told her that we wanted to give her an early birthday present (her BD was in 2 months), but she couldn't open it for 9 months (I was obviously further along, but we figured it would 'click' if we said 9 months). We thought for sure she'd 'get it'. The first thing she yells is "A puppy!" Of course, we cracked up. So I told her to go and look in my nightstand. The first thing she would touch would tell her the answer. She runs in, yanks open the drawer and starts rummaging through it like crazy. All the while, holding the little baby outfit in her hand!

We said, "Chels, STOP! What's in your hand?" She looks at her hand and saw the outfit. And the light came on! (The memory is still so vivid, I'm fighting back tears as I write!) She looks at me and says, "YOU'RE PREGNANT?! Is this a joke?" We said we would never joke about something like that. Then she grabbed both of us in a huge hug, sobbing. She would cry and hug us on and off for the rest of the day. She kept saying, "I'm going to be a sister, I'm going to be a sister". And the Lord showed her an important lesson in faith...


But, back to the sewing...

Now the girls began sewing in earnest. They made bigger bibs, 3 or 4 little newborn outfits, a cap and a beautiful quilt, all with the help of her friend's mother of course. At the same time, Chels was saving every penny. When my baby shower rolled around, a month before Grace was due, the first thing they did was have Chels and her friend roll in a brand-new Red Flyer wagon they had bought at Cracker Barrell loaded with all the little gifts they had made. I was so surprised. I seriously did not have a clue. Everyone knew about this 'project' but me!

It was not only Chelsie's faith that grew through this time, but she also developed perseverance, because she seriously did not enjoy sewing and doesn't to this day. Of course, she enjoyed the fruit of her labors. That meant even more to me. That she would keep plugging away doing something she really didn't enjoy doing without grumbling or complaining or even letting on, because she knew the joy it would bring to my heart, amazed me. And after all our tears quit gushing, the first thing she said when all was said and done was, "That's it for my Home Economics credit, right?! My funny girl!

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

btw, That's our girls up in the banner pic.

It's All I'M A SISTER Good!