Barrett Meets a Barrett!

Yesterday, Barrett and I ventured to see old friends. We visited the first school I ever taught at, and it was great to see the people that I taught with. It's amazing how much you don't appreciate what you have until it's not yours anymore. If I could go back there and teach, I would in a heartbeat. Although, I don't think the hour commute would be any fun.

Barrett and I then headed to Sybil's house. Sybil was in my class in fifth grade, and she is now a senior. While we were there, Jackie, another former student, came to see us too. While this may not seem like a big deal, it was for me. Jackie Barrett is a very important to our family.

Jackie was one of the cutest little fifth graders. She made a lasting impression on the first day of school because she had an incident with the zipper on her "first day of school" outfit. I ended up fixing it for her while trying to tell her it would be ok. Maybe it was the traumatized look she had on her face or maybe it was the humor that only I saw in that moment, but Jackie has been special to me ever since.

In the Fall of that school year, Jackie's family was told her dad had ALS. Jackie was the oldest of their four children with the youngest being a newborn. When I was talking to Jackie about her dad, she told me everything was going to be ok because they were praying for him. To be honest, I was horrified that anyone would tell her that prayer would fix him. (My faith at that time was non-existent.) After more conversations with her, I realized that she didn't know if God would fix him, but she trusted in God's will. Those were not her words, but that's what I took from what she would say. It was then that I began to be interested in Him.

Jumping way ahead to a couple of years ago:

When Doug and I were told we needed to see a fertility specialist I was scared. When I was praying that evening, I started with my typical prayer for the Barrett family before I ventured in to my conversation with God about my own fertility issues. Throughout our entire adventure in the infertility world, it was the Barrett family's faith that kept me going. Somehow I felt like if they trusted Him with their dad, I could trust Him with this.

After I found out I was pregnant and I made it past the first trimester, I started thinking about names for the baby. Doug threw out Doug Junior, Fritz, and others just to annoy me, and I went straight to a book and started highlighting little girl and boy names.

A few weeks later, I noticed that every night I was praying for the Barrett family and my baby. Then, something clicked. I woke Doug up and I said, "What about Barrett?" Since he was asleep, his reply was something like, "Huh, the Barrett's, what are you talking about?" After clarifying what I was talking about, he said, "Can I call him Bear?"

So, before we even knew if we were having a boy, Barrett already had his name.

In May, Jackie's dad passed away. While I was at his memorial service, Barrett was kicking and loving the music. Everything seemed so wrong and right at the same time. I listened to people talk of how Jackie's dad inspired so many with his amazing faith. I am so sad that the Barrett family lost their dad, but I am so thankful that Jackie, with her broken zipper, entered my classroom.