Sunday Thoughts: Engraving and New Wine

EngravingFaith and FamilyProcess

Nov 20

Written By Stacey

Y’all already know…

My Sunday Thoughts…

They’re typically Church Girl thoughts. Don’t let the beverages fool you.

You’ve been warned.

If you have read this blog for any length of time-or know me on a personal level-you know that this time last year, my daughter and I were spending our time-weeks at a time, mind you, in the children’s hospital trying to provoke a seizure.

She had been having seizures, multiple in a day, every four-to-seven days and we were trying to record one on an EEG. We never got it. She had one right after they unhooked her.

It was heartbreaking to see a child who was already grappling with communication due to autism, suffer seizures at such a crucial time in her young, adult life…and at a time where the nation was still in the throes of a pandemic.

I was worried I might lose my job…I had to keep leaving so many times with the number of seizures and the treatment plan at the time…

And I was so divided between my responsibility as a mother versus my responsibility as a teacher. Can I get an ‘amen’ from all the teaching parents that worked during a worlwide pandemic? ✋🏾

It was serious stuff.

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A post shared by Stacey Scribbling | Lettering (@staceyscribbling)

At the time, I had been lettering since the pandemic started…And I did a lot of things during that long stretch of seclusion…all of them related to lettering since it seemed to be a way to communicate for me.

I made some gifs, and lettered more messages like the one above. I spread awareness about epilepsy. I counted milestones and gave thanks and praise for them.

It was all so bittersweet…There were so many unexpected triumphs and unwanted trials. Never did I ever dream the things I would see over that time period, both good and bad.

But, God…

Little by little I will drive them out before you until you have increased enough to take the land.
God, Exodus 23:30 NIV

Little by little, I grew some tiny, mustard seed faith to believe God for the next month…and the next after that for her.

Along the way, as I kept my pencils, pens and my iPad busy, I learned He also had the power to bring new opportunities my way. I’ve enjoyed working on a number of projects I never saw coming.

Lately, I’ve even been engraving in my community. The most recent has been fragrance bottles for Nordstrom, courtesy of Sun Dreams Productions and some new wine bottles at a variety of locations for Bobella Promotions.

Unbeknownst to you, Dear Reader, it’s the source of supplemental income I had been trying to secure for years on my own. He did it in ONE, very tumultuous year of hanging on for dear life to the promises He gave me for my daughter.

And He put it all in perspective…

The opportunities in lettering and calligraphy have been wonderful. I love being able to participate in a genre I’ve always admired from afar. I am overjoyed that there are those who feel my gifts can be used for their businesses and clients. I am ecstatic that there are those who derive joy out of the things I can draw, write or engrave for them. I am over the moon about being able to add a new income stream to my teacher salary.

I love it all…But, none of that can give my daughter peace in her body.

There’s only One that has the power to do that.

And, now, one year later, with much prayer and seeking God, my daughter has been seizure-free. In fact, on the 22nd of this month, it will have been a full year of a seizure-free existence for her. The irony is not lost on me that I’m engraving new wine bottles these days as we get closer and closer to the day.

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I’ve never posted the same main grid image twice on my IG feed. But, I’ll break that record for this right here. 🙌🏾 And, if you see this piece again in my IG feed this week, you’ll know that He did it.