I came across an outfit with special significance hanging very neatly on a satin covered hanger. A few months earlier when we found out that we were having a little boy, a dear friend began hand-making this lovely gift. It was an elegant, yet handsome, powder blue crocheted coat with matching crocheted hat and booties. It was delicately trimmed with buttons in the shape of sailboats — the same as that was our nursery theme.
Shane was born in the first week of August. I knew it would be a few months before he would wear the jacket — until the weather was appropriate. So I hung it on a shelf-hook in his bedroom so that I could enjoy looking at it. The months flew by us, just as everyone warned they would with a new baby, and when the first cold Sunday came, I remembered the jacket hanging on the wall. But when I put it on him, it was obvious that he had long since outgrown it. It was so small on him that the sleeves slid to his elbows when he placed his arms inside. The tiny booties would barely cover his toes and the hat would cover only the top of his head and go no further. It broke my heart to think that we never got to use the outfit that our friend had put so much time and hard work into making for our newborn son.
As many more months passed, I packed away many of the tiny outfits that Shane had outgrown. We put away the Christmas pajamas and then the Easter outfit, though he only wore them once. He grew so quickly that the box of outgrown clothes overflowed. Through this ritual, however, I grew as well. It was painful, at first, to let go of my "baby." The first year proved to be an intense challenge. (Heaven help us when he starts school). I had to let go of all the precious things that come with a new baby and pack them away to make room for "little boy" things. What I get to keep forever, though, are all the "firsts" that we experienced together.
Often with clenched fists, we cling to things of the world that are temporal. God teaches that if we will just loosen our grip and free our hands, He'll place in them little bits of heaven. The hand-made jacket was as temporary as it was beautiful. What was eternal was the love of our dear friend expressed to our family. The jacket, though it was never actually worn, reminds me of the love and thoughtfulness that I get to keep forever.
