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    Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart
    Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart
    Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart

    By Verna Francis

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    About this ebook

    “Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart”,  is a sharing of some of life's tragedies that my family and I have experienced. My purpose in doing this is to help those who are dealing with the same difficulties. Reading stories of those who have experienced heartaches similar to mine has comforted and encouraged me very much. I hope to pass on that same type of encouragement. The subjects I cover include infertility, cancer, separation from one’s spouse, death of one’s spouse, losing your parents, having a wayward child, having a chronically ill child, having a loved one in prison, and surviving a tornado. Because of the wide variety of subjects covered I feel my book will appeal to a wide and varied audience. By publishing Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart, I hope to fulfill the command  of Paul in II Corinthians 1:3, 4 , “He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVerna Francis
    Release dateApr 30, 2016
    ISBN9781533732958
    Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart
    Author

    Verna Francis

    Verna Francis grew up on a farm in central Oklahoma.  She is married and has three grown children and five grandchildren.  She and her husband live in the country across the pasture from their daughter and her family.  She loves animals and currently has four dogs, two of which were rescued from shelters. Verna owns Snowflake Photography which she operates out of her home.  It is a family business and she enjoys working with her children very much.  She enjoys all types of photography and has been the official Santa photographer for the Chickasha Festival of Light for the past six years. Verna has published articles in  Christian Woman and Bereavement magazines, written several articles for U.S. Observer newspaper, and has two stories in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. She used to wonder how she would handle it when life starting knocking her to her knees.  Then one day it began and didn’t let up for almost twenty years.  She experienced illness, separation, death, disaster, and heartache.  During these difficult times she found a lot of comfort in reading about others who had been in similar circumstances.  Their stories of faith, perseverance, courage, and victory lifted her up and encouraged her.  By sharing her story she hopes to lighten the load of someone who is dealing with similar issues.

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      Book preview

      Sister to Sister, Heart to Heart - Verna Francis

      SISTER TO SISTER, HEART TO HEART

      A heartfelt talk about some of life’s struggles by someone who has lived them.

      By Verna Francis

      ––––––––

      Chapter 1 - On infertility 

      Chapter 2 - On having cancer

      Chapter 3 - On separation from one’s spouse

      Chapter 4 -  On death of one’s spouse

      Chapter 5 -  On losing your parents

      Chapter 6 -  On having a wayward child

      Chapter 7 -  On having a chronically ill child

      Chapter 8 -  On having a loved one in prison

      Chapter 9 - On surviving a tornado

      Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy and all comfort. He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.  II Corinthians 1:3, 4

      ––––––––

      The stories in this book are true and the people are real.  When God told the events surrounding His people and their lives in the Bible He told the bad along with the good.  That is what I have tried to do here.  None of us are perfect, but we are all God’s creation and He loves each of us dearly. 

      My purpose in sharing my life is to encourage.  I am not here to preach or judge, but to testify to the love of God.  I hope by telling my story I can help lighten someone’s load.  My desire is that others will find comfort and encouragement in hearing of my struggles and the way God has provided for and sustained me and my family.  I pray for everyone who opens these pages that He will comfort you and bring you peace as only He can.

      Chapter One...On Infertility

      ––––––––

      Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. And she made a vow, saying, ‘O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.’ I Samuel 1:9-11.

      ––––––––

      My heart hurt and my empty arms ached to hold a child of my own.  My friends were all busy planning Easter egg hunts, Halloween costumes, and trips to see Santa Claus with their children.  They belonged to an exclusive sorority.  But I did not belong - because I was childless; could not get pregnant.  I didn’t fit in their group.

      Every month I was hopeful.  Every month my body betrayed me.  I hadn’t been on birth control for two years, but still no baby.  I spent hours poring over catalogs choosing maternity clothes.  To me those pregnant models radiated happiness.  I planned my nursery: the Jenny Lind baby crib, the matching bumper, curtains, and diaper stacker. Would it be a boy or a girl?  Did I need pink or blue, or maybe yellow?  But month after month I didn’t need anything.  There was no need to paint the Winken, Blinken, and Nod mural on the wall.  No need to shop for tiny little clothes or soft blankets in which to swaddle my baby. No need to do anything.

      Like Hannah of old I prayed and I prayed.  Then I prayed some more.  It became more than I could bear to attend a baby shower.  Many of my friends were now having their second or third child.  Although I was happy for them and didn’t resent the blessings of their babies, they were physical reminders that my own arms were still empty.

      I am a firm believer that God expects us to help ourselves.  So while we prayed for God to bless us with a baby we looked into all the possible causes and solutions for our infertility.

      I took my temperature faithfully every morning before getting out of bed.  Since a woman’s body temperature rises slightly during ovulation we were able to pinpoint the days of my highest fertility.  I entered the temperatures on a chart to make it easier to identify the pattern of ovulation.  After months of planning our entire schedule around my days of highest fertility we still had no baby.

      I began to despair of ever having a child of our own.  It seemed that everywhere we went there were hordes of pregnant women!  It felt like the whole world was pregnant and I alone was incapable of having a baby.

      When I went for my yearly pelvic exam (and all the joy that brings - ugh!) my doctor recommended that I see a doctor who specialized in infertility.  After examining me and looking over my history, the new doctor suggested fertility pills.  She promised that the kind she was prescribing would not cause me to have a litter of five or six babies! At that point I was so desperate I probably would have taken the drug even if it had caused multiple births!  Multiple babies are better than no baby at all, right?

      Several months of fertility pills produced weight gain and hot flashes but no baby. Finally my doctor decided that we had exhausted all options except surgery.  She recommended a laparoscopy; a surgery in which a small instrument is inserted through an incision in the abdomen.  This procedure is used to determine whether a woman is suffering from endometriosis, tumors, or adhesions from scar tissue.

      By this time I would have agreed to just about any procedure that seemed as if it might be remotely helpful.  So the date was set, the surgery was performed, and sure enough I had adhesions that were preventing me from becoming pregnant.  The doctor cut the adhesions loose but couldn’t promise me that this was the only cause of my infertility.  One month after the surgery I was feeling sick and tired so I did a pregnancy test and praise God I was at long last pregnant!  Nine months later, just before my thirtieth birthday God blessed us with a healthy, black-haired, brown-eyed, dimpled baby boy.  I was ecstatic!

      On my return visit to my doctor she explained that she didn’t know if my problem had been permanently removed or if my getting pregnant was just a one-time fluke. She didn’t know if I would ever be able to have another child.

      My son, Thomas, was a difficult baby who had colic and rarely slept.  Although I wanted another baby I hoped to wait until he was about five years old.  When he was nine months old I began feeling sick and wondered if I could again be pregnant.  My doctor scoffed at the idea and told me she thought I had the flu.  Seven and a half months later my blond-haired, blue-eyed, beautiful baby girl, Skye, was born.  That was the best flu I ever had!

      My life was full and very busy with two babies only sixteen and a half months apart. I loved every minute!  But it wasn’t time to settle in just yet.  God had other things in mind for me and I am very glad He did.  Two months before I turned forty years old my youngest son, Dusty, a carbon copy of his brother, made his entrance into the world.

      If I had only known all those years earlier how richly God would bless me with three precious children it would certainly have saved me a lot of worrying and wondering!  But that wasn’t God’s plan.  He wants us to trust Him on the good days and also the bad days.  He knew what He had planned for my life but I had to wait until the time was right for Him to reveal that plan.  I have had to wait for many important events in my life and I am convinced that this was His first big step in trying to teach me patience.  I believe He wanted me to trust that He would take care of me whether He saw fit to answer my prayer for children or not.

      I still don’t wait very patiently but He’s not done with me yet!  And God’s timing is always perfect.  When my husband was killed in an accident on the job Thomas and Skye were almost grown but they were still living at home. 

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