THE BIRTHING ROOM

Sherrie has been a lifelong eyewitness to the great joy that follows excruciating pain.

Holding the hands of young, frightened mothers during childbirth wasn’t just her vocation; it was her ministry.

“On the way to work each day, I would pray, ‘Please God, help me care for my moms and babies.’”

And through the rotations of hours and days, she learned there was no birth without death, no death without birth. The two were intertwined in the constant tension of this fallen world.

Her soul's most difficult labor began when her husband, Steve, 57, was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia. The pain has yet to subside for a decade now, but she doesn’t spend her time being bitter. 

With every spasm of doubt, she breathes in God’s strength and exhales gratitude in a calming rhythm of faith. 

“I had Steve when I most needed him, and God knew that. So I can’t waste my time thinking about having him for more years. I just have to be so thankful that I had Steve when I did because I don’t know what my life would’ve been like without him.”

For Steve wasn’t just any ordinary husband, he was a hero, a rescuer of lost souls, the ‘man,' her man. 

With God watching over their shoulders, Sherrie and Steve had rolled up their sleeves together and delivered an extraordinary life into the world.

And oh, how that life has multiplied in their hands, although Steve can no longer grasp it.

So his very best girl, Sherrie, rolls up her sleeves and takes hold of it for them both.

One day, she came to present her husband with a blessing, their grandchild, swaddled in grace.

Although the two life partners barely recognized the other, still deep called to deep, and the whisper of a sweet smile passed between them. 

And for now, that will have to be enough.

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering…

Romans 8:22-23a NLT