It has been 15 years…..years of joy, years of tears.
(I had every intention of writing this last week, before the actual day was here. But finally, now I have time to put both my thoughts and memories on paper.)
The phone woke me between three and four in the morning. The voice on the other end was familiar and scared….crying. Will you come, please?
Six and a half hours later, I was back home. As I sat in a tub of very warm water with only a small candle for light, I was trying to relax, trying to process my day. I had already missed church. The next thought grabbed me….it was Sunday, January 19th, Sanctity of Life Sunday (1997).
I had wanted to do something meaningful. Something to make a statement on this day!
Our country church was small. Other churches all over the United States, maybe the world, were planning events to call attention to the fact, that life, all life is sacred.
Some were placing blue and pink crosses on their church lawns…others were planning on hosting afternoon rallies. The news and been full of plans for upcoming events……events I would miss, was missing. How I had wanted to be a part of such a special exercise in celebrating life!!! But our church was small…rural, more elderly than young people….not that I was all that young at 49. We had already raised three wonderful kids, two daughters and a son. The year before, we had opened our hearts and home to an infant boy….another son. We were busy and life was something that needed to be celebrated!
My thoughts began to drift. I was so stinking tired! Why wouldn’t God allow me to be apart of Sanctity of Life Sunday? I closed my eyes….relaxed, soon I was really drifting. I dozed off.
I’m not sure if it was the water getting cold or the smell of burning wood that woke me. But for the second time that day, I woke with a “start”.
The smell of wood burning….I had placed the candle on a shelf that set too close to the shelf above. It had scorched the paint! Oh well, you had to be lying in the bathtub, looking up to see the damage…..thank goodness.
What was I doing? Oh yeah, memories of thoughts of Life….that’s where I was. “Lord, that would have been so awesome just to be apart of what was taking place today.”
It was quiet.
Then, that still small voice, “Really, Cheryl? Where were you early this morning?”
…..hospital
“Why were you there?”
…..because “Dee” called, she was in labor and scared
“Do you remember what happened?”
…..yes, I sat with her through labor, until the baby was born
OH!!! (I got it!)
Our third son joined our family on Sanctity of Life Sunday…..because “Dee” was the birth mother of our second son, the baby boy who had been home with Papaw while I went to the hospital.
Three days later, we brought home a beautiful baby boy! We call him “Teamer” because Elijah (his older brother) couldn’t pronounce his name, therefore dubbing him Teamer. So, Teamer it was and Teamer it is!
Taken two years ago, Teamer on the left with the fish (of course) and Rusty, our nephew.
He is the “heartbeat” of our home, always finding something to make us laugh or cry! He loves anything boyish and outside! Night and day different from Elijah (our electronic wiz), Teamer is rough and tumble. Always into something, usually a mess, he loves to fish and loves to hunt. He is an inventor, a builder and a budding mechanic.
Feeding the fish
Papaw has said, "Elijah may draw up the plans for rockets one day, but Teamer will fly those babies!"
Life is never dull and life is always sacred.
Blessings,
Cheryl
