Crafted in Darkness
- Tarah OSullivan
- Apr 10
- 3 min read
7 years ago we were living through the physical and daily pain of trying to run the sprint we had been given.
Drake was young, his seizures were uncontrollable, he was suffering immeasurably, and we were hurting as a family.
I remember being so numb in that season.
The pain was crushing, the hopeless days were so many.
We had scripture plastered on every surface.
Every wall, every mirror, every door...everywhere.
Seizures came all hours of the night, your mind was always under attach when you were physically trying to battle that kind of warfare.
Trying to juggle all the needs,
care for all the children...
find the answers....
Some days it felt like a noose.
I found sitting with Father helped the tightness.
Echoing His word over the pain helped, and some days, as I held my child seizing for hours...I would say the words...over and over again trying to speak truth.
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
I had this bible verse hung in our dining room, split into two frames that flanked a big window.
When we sold our home recently, I had it put in storage. Our rental is smaller and not a lot of space for wall decor.
"The Birkley": Mantle
Building this plan was such a journey.
I was able to design all the details, sit in them, and try to decide what I wanted and where.
The mantle I even drew on a piece of paper and found a local woodworker to bring it to life.
Some days when I would have all the floor samples, swatches of tile, and plans laid out on the floor, I would find myself thanking Father over and over again.
She is so much more than a house..
she is the physical testimony of a deserted dream...
a dream that Father held until His timing.
The day we went to pick up the mantle I was nervous to see my drawing come to life. I know what I had in my head, but actually seeing it might prove different than what I could articulate on my simple drawings.
The guy was super nice, and he was telling us that he had cut that exact tree down 7 years ago...and it had been curing in his shop and he wasn't sure what to do with it all that time.
I couldn't believe my ears...7 years ago?
7 is the number in the bible for completeness.
He said when he saw my drawings...he knew exactly what peice of maple to use for it...
The very maple he had stored up 7 years before.
7 years ago we were fighting to live, not knowing then that a second wave was coming with Vivian being born with NKH.
All our dreams, our world was shattered with sickness, and we were just trying to hang on to hope that Father would bring us through.
At one of our worst season in our lives...Father was hand picking a tree for harvest to rebirth a dream we thought we had lost forever.
Today I get to run my hands down a mantle that was crafted from an image in my mind....
hand drawn on paper..
carved from a piece of maple...
that God chose seven years ago.
In our darkest season of life, Father still had a plan for us.
A plan to bring glory to Him and bring healing and hope to our family.
That is why on that very mantle, it just felt fitting to hang the verse that I clung to as we tried to hold onto Him while the storm was raging.
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Praying for the precious family that will soon call this house a home. I know this family was hand picked by the Lord, as we have prayed over them and their home the entire time.
What a privilege to be able to take care of it and craft it for them.
Father is so good.
Father is a God of details.
His steadfast love endures forever
and you can trust Him in your darkest hour.
He is enough.