Jamie Olivia Stricklen-4 months
This is dedicated to my princess; Sarah E. Story and Shannon's princess, Jamie O. Stricklen . "…and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:15
It was Mother's day [2001] and church was out. I was leaving our 2nd grade children's church class to get our baby- Lydia Ellen 31/2 months. I sent my oldest daughter, Sarah to go get our 4 year old. Walking out, I spotted a couple of friends who are single moms: Andrea and Shannon, a recently saved former Catholic who has three boys, the youngest of which [Aaron] is in our 2nd grade class. I hadn't seen Shannon in a while and was surprised to see she was pregnant. What were the circumstances of her getting pregnant? Had she a lapse in judgment? It is all too easy for new Christians to fall into sin, I know of this first hand. I would not and could not cast any stones. [John 8:7] 1 John 2:1 says : "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." I had to go talk to her. I wondered…was she getting "the look" from any self-righteous Pharisee's in church? I heard a message some years ago on Christian radio, the title just says it all: "The Pharisee's Are Alive and Well". It was about judgmental/hypocritical people in the church today. Most everyone at our church is not like that though, thank God. So I went over and said "Hi" and found out Shannon was due in two weeks!
Well, you know the saying "Time flies". This applies to all those around the pregnant woman. But for her, like when I was pregnant "Time stands still"! So many said to me when I was near my due date, "Oh, it seems like you just told me you were pregnant!" and "That went by fast!" "Yeah, for you." was my thought. So for me , no longer the one waiting, before I knew it I found out Shannon had her baby. A beautiful baby girl! With three big brothers to take care of her! Shannon named her Jamie Olivia Stricklen for her dad James Oliver Stricklen. This I know Shannon did out of respect for him because her former boy friend is not necessarily someone little Jamie will want to emulate. Indeed, he had pressured Shannon to abort. But I hope now has seen the "errors of his way" when he saw his precious baby daughter! Before I could even get to Shannon's house to see Jamie they were all back at Church. Aaron was in class and so I asked him how his baby sister was. He proudly said she was well. Then I asked "What does she need?" Since I wanted to get her a gift. Aaron is an adorable child who all the sudden got this far-away, deep- in-thought look on his face. He said "Well, she has enough pacifiers…" Then his face lit up and I knew he had a revelation, "She doesn't have a Bible….she needs a Bible." I smiled, "Yes, she does" "That's what I'll get her then…a Bible." I decided I wanted to get her a nice Bible, her mom would keep for her until she was old enough to read it. I would get her name put on it. I would have to call Shannon so I could get the spelling right and tell her about her son's wonderful idea!
It was the middle of the hot summer in middle Georgia, what better place to visit than "The Olive Branch", the Christian book store in Centerville. My children also love Christian book stores, so the six of us pile in the suburban and go! I had in my mind to find Jamie a little pink or white Bible and I also wanted to get a special C.D. for a teen who had had a baby in our church. It had more than one song about God's grace and forgiveness by a popular contemporary Christian artist. I didn't even know , at that time, that this teen was pregnant again and still not married. Well, God can continue to forgive…can we? I went in and went straight to the Bibles. I had prayed about it. I found a really nice hand stitched little leather white Bible-it was prefect- A King James with the words of Christ in red! There wasn't another one like it and it had no price on it . While I was doing this my teenage daughter came over to me, "Look what I found, Mama". She had found a silver necklace with a heart and the initials SES on it. In was by the CD's where she was looking. Let me explain the significance of this: my name is Susan Elizabeth Story and my daughter's is Sarah Elizabeth Story. My daughter, I think was saying to herself "This was left here just for me", but we left it there at the Olive Branch for a month to see if anyone came looking for it. No one did, so now it's Sarah's -I hope , a reminder of how God left a necklace in the book store for her to find. One day we may find out exactly where it did come from, but one thing I know for sure, it was not a coincidence. I asked the clerk how much the beautiful little white Bible was, I was hoping it was on sale, it wasn't. $45.00!!!! Yikes! That can't be the Bible God wants me to get? The clerk directed me to the back of the store where the Children's Bibles and books are. Maybe a (cheaper) little "Precious Moments" Bible would be there? I found another white Bible that was half the price of the other one, but not nearly as nice.
All this was great stuff to keep my mind off my problems. We were still not in our house, Bob had been working on for two years. I had begun writing in 2000, which I felt was God's leading. I haven't had anything published, but some letters to the editor. Well, I wrote something which wasn't received too well. In fact one person took it to mean the exact opposite of what I intended! One thing I talked about was being tempted and how I resisted temptation, by God's grace, of course. Later I thought "Why is it OK for TV preachers to fall from grace and everyone to hear about it on the evening news, but for a Christian to write about a temptation which they were delivered from is wrong?" No, it isn't, but at that time I was doubting myself : Did God really want me to write that? Maybe I heard Him wrong? Does God even care about little ol' me and my problems? I went to a counselor to sort all this out, she read all my stuff…a lot of reading! Then she told me something I will never forget. She told me I was real and that her pastor had just preached about being real, he had said for so many years as a Christian he wasn't…now he was striving to be sincere. So, she said it wasn't bad to be real, just unusual. So, I'm just weird, oh I already knew that! I do feel, however, that she was very accommodating so she wouldn't further burst my bubble. Consequently, I will take my criticisms into consideration as I edit and reedit what I wrote.
When I went to the back of the book store that day I found a great children's book called "The Princess and the Kiss" by Jennie Bishop, it is about a princess and her quest for a man worthy of her kiss [purity] which she is saving for her husband. I've now read this to my children several times. Claire always says "I'd marry him!" when Prince Romance comes to call on the princess, "Cause he has chocolates!" But the wise princess saw that Prince Romance would soon lose interest in her kiss. This story is as much for Sarah [14], who has listened to it and understands the deeper application, as it is for Claire[5] and even for Teddy[11] and Ian[8] who see that the rich prince, the strong and handsome etc. do not win the princess but the humble farmer who had prayed to God for a wife and only has one very special thing to give her: the gift of his kiss which he has saved for his wife . The name "Sarah" means "Princess" and Bob and I have occasionally referred to her that way . But now we have two other little girls who are also our "little princesses". When Lydia was a few months old I was asking Claire if it was OK for Lydia to be our "Pretty, Pretty Princess" also. Claire replied, "Yes, it's OK" As we were discussing it, Sarah walked into the room, her joking reply, "Hey, I'm the princess!" It is our prayer and hope that all our children will accept Jesus' free gift of salvation, and will then become children of The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Therefore becoming Princes and Princesses. My favorite part of the book is where the Princess speaks to her mother about her fears: "Mama" the princess asked, "will I ever find a man so special that I will be able to give him my kiss?" The queen reassures her daughter that she is sure God has a husband for her. Then the book says, "The princess took comfort in that thought, for she knew God could be trusted, and she cherished the kiss with all that she was." In the end the princess marries the humble farmer" and God and all the kingdom sang for happiness." The verse at the end of the book is 1 Timothy 1:5 "Love…comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." This is what I had written about! I'm not as good a writer as Jeanie though! Your purity is not just something to guard before you get married but afterward as well. But I had written about it and it was not accepted. However, this princess takes comfort in the thought that God knows the secret thoughts and motives of my heart and what others think of me doesn't matter.
I couldn't get over the feeling from the Holy Spirit that He wanted me to get the $45.00 Bible! But, but "What will my very frugal husband say?" Then I thought about how just a few weeks earlier we had spent almost $200.00 on my 11 year old's birthday party at a local birthday party place. This Bible is God's word which Shannon is going to take care of for little Jamie until she's old enough to take care of it herself. This was a gift of lasting value, after all "God's Word abides forever.". 1 Peter 1:25. I carried the Bible around the store with me, got the book and CD and then ran into a home schooling friend, the mother of eight . So I decided to ask Laura what she thought, although I continued to pray silently. Laura thought since Shannon has all those children [3 boys] that the nice Bible may get "torn up" and being the mom of a crew, you have to learn a little frugality, so get the cheaper one. I did not follow her advice because I still felt lead to get the $45.00 one, so I did. I hoped my husband would not be too upset since he was being kinda extravagant with building our big house.
I left the Bible at "The Olive Branch" to get Jamie's name put on it, it would take 3 days. We went home. I was feeling doubtful and my children didn't help me feel better. "Daddy's gonna be mad" my 11 year old said. I reminded him about his birthday party. My 14 year old said "You should have got the other one" Then I had a thought pop into my head and I said "Maybe they'll mess up on the engraving and give me off on the cost of the Bible?….Well, I don't really want them to mess it up, though." When I told Bob about the Bible and my reasoning about getting it he wasn't mad. Saturday came and Bob went to work on the house, as usual, the Bible was supposed to be ready that day. I called Bob on the cell phone and asked him to pick it up since the book store is on his way home. I told him to check the engraving. I got a call from him that evening, they had messed up, it wasn't spelled wrong but was slanted and some letters didn't come out [Bob later fixed it with some nail polish!]. They had tried to fix it, but couldn't. He put the lady over there on the phone with me. I explained to her that it was an expensive Bible and was going to be a gift. She asked me how much I wanted off and I asked for 50% off and she said O.K.! It ended up costing the same as the other Bible but was so much nicer. "Wow!" I thought, "maybe I do hear God". Maybe…and He definitely cares about little ol' me and my problems. Why not let Him take care of yours? "…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." 1Peter 5:7.
I recently came across that receipt from the bookstore that day and noticed something I hadn't before: The receipt said "BRIDES COMPACT REFER." [reference Bible] . I didn't know that's what it was! My mother told me it is sometimes customary for a bride to carry a Bible down the aisle when she gets married. A small, white one! It is my prayer that my children will stay pure before marriage and although their parents didn't set a great example in this area, I hope they will desire to glorify God in this way. I was once talking to my friend from high school and her boyfriend, when Sarah was a baby: I said I wanted to teach my daughter to wait until marriage, although we hadn't he called me a "hypocrite". This guy's comment hurt me, but also got me to thinking "Could I teach my daughter that when I had set a bad example in that area? What would I tell her about her birth?" Sarah was born almost nine months , to the day, Bob and I were married, but she was late. We did not, however, get married because I was pregnant. We got married because we loved/love each other and we felt it was God's will, love is a decision and not a feeling. I've now told Sarah the truth about all this, as I cried over my sin, I told her she was not a mistake. I don't think any baby is a mistake, however, it shows the Amazing Grace of God that a beautiful child [who was meant to be here] resulted from someone's sin. The sin was the mistake. It was God's intention that children would be the result of a beautiful love and commitment that would last a lifetime, but we live in a fallen world where things don't always turn out the way God intended. The good news is: with Christ there's forgiveness and a second chance and you can teach your children to wait by leading a life of purity today. So my prayer for Jamie is the same as for all my children: That she will save God's gift of purity, walking the aisle on her wedding day with her little white Bible and none of the regrets her mother had.
Copyright Susan E. Story, January 2002. Update- Shannon married James in June of 2002- little Jamie now has six big brothers, as James has three boys also.
© copyright Susan E. Story 2000-2003