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Today's Featured Biography
Clinel James Davis
HELLO!
So many people want to know how Threads of Love® got started. This is that story.
I’m Clinel “Sissy” James Davis, and for some reason God called me to begin the organization now known as Threads of Love Foundation®. Looking back, I can see the many ways He prepared me. It has been an honor to feel that I have been given this talent to use and to honor my God and Savior.
Often I ask myself why God chose me, of all the people He could have chosen. I was very, very shy in school. Teased because I was very small and wore glasses, I wouldn’t raise my hand in class even if I did know the answer to a question; I think that I would have been diagnosed with a learning disability like dyslexia if I were in school now. All I know is that I tried very hard but couldn’t learn the way other children did. School was a miserable experience for me. But now that I look at what Threads of Love® has become, I think it because I am not smart enough to get in God’s way, and He has extended His many blessings on the ministry. I do know that without God’s intervention, the ministry would not be.
When you look back on the things in your life that brought you to this place, maybe you will find that some are practical and some are spiritual. Practically, my first memory of sewing as child was when Mother gave me some scraps of fabric. I was sitting on our back porch trying my best to cut out some doll clothes. Needless to say that didn’t work out like what my mind had envisioned. My mother always sewed and is a very good seamstress. I, for one was a child that was always busy and one that never ran out of energy. I think she gave the scraps to me to keep me busy while she was sewing. Little did I know that the Lord was in the process of preparing me for a ministry using my sewing skills!
Spiritually, God began to work in my heart toward what would become His work when I lost my baby brother. I was twelve years old. On November 20, 1951 I was told that I had a new baby brother who was born two months early and then the next day I was told I didn't have a brother. He had died during the night, and I still remember the anguish, the emptiness that I felt in the loss of that baby brother. I remember well the emotions that my parents had to face although it was at a time in our society when you were expected to act like it never happened. You didn't talk about it; you were supposed to just sweep it under the rug as if it would disappear. I had begged to see my baby brother who died, but it was not acceptable at that time. It is true that time helps in the healing but the pain doesn’t disappear and the sense of loss never goes away.
My brother may have only lived on this earth for eight hours before he was to go to the Lord, but his little short life has counted for something. You see, it is because of him that when the call came, it tugged at my heart strings. Through his death I have been able to turn a heart break into something positive, not only for me but for all those parents that were to walk the path that my parents had walked some forty-two years earlier. Now grieving parents, family and dear friends can see their baby, no matter how small, dressed in a sweet little gown made just for them, in just their size. It helps them when it is time to hold their baby and say their good-byes. It may provide a gentler start to the healing process.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR
So honestly, that’s where God started with me, with scraps of cloth and a broken heart. In the years that followed, I spent untold hours sewing clothing for my children, grandchildren, and myself. I drove a school bus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for thirty years. As I began to think about retirement, in April 1994, I had begun to ask myself, “Who am I? What have I done with my life? If I should die tomorrow, what would be said about me?” Mother, grandmother, and school bus driver: All those things described me, but somehow I did not feel that the whole purpose for my life had been accomplished.
“Lord,” I began to pray. “Give me something to do that will be worthwhile. Let me make a difference. I do not want to just pass through this world.” I had a tune going through my head during the day – “Let others see Jesus in me.” So I began to pray that the Lord would use me in some way to be a servant to Him. The Lord began to answer my prayer in ways I could never have imagined.
A local doctor named Rachael Houseman called my church requesting little dresses for the tiny babies she cared for who were stillborn or died shortly after birth. In the fall of 1993 she came and asked for volunteers. Sitting there in that ladies’ Bible circle I found myself raising my hand. I knew I would love to help. God came through…the sewing, the death of my brother, the desire of my heart to serve my Lord and Savior in a meaningful way; it all began to come together then and there.
From there, the little needle God put in my hand has become a mighty needle for Him. Since 1997, when we began to keep track, through today (January, 2014) Threads of Love® labels have been put on 1,665,744 items. There are 114 active chapters, not only in the US, but in Canada, Newfoundland, England, Panama and South Africa. We are taught to use our talents to be servants for the Lord and I have found a way to use my talent of sewing to serve the Lord and others. With the Lord at my side I have done things I didn’t think I could do. God has given me the insight, courage and words to reach out to thousands of people by using my sewing talent.
ONE GIFT THAT BECOMES TWO
I can't even begin to imagine what a mother must feel when all she is left with is a pocket full of broken dreams for her child. But we can give her something to hold on to that once had belonged to her precious little one. What better gift to give to someone when they are hurting so very badly, than a beautiful little dress sewn with love? Using our sewing talents we help to ease the pain with sewing a gown, showing that somewhere there is someone that cares and showing that God is faithful even if hearts are broken. I also think while sewing that little gift of love, it may be the only gift of remembrance that a mother will ever receive for her baby.
A card is included with each item, with a prayer appropriate to the situation. Whether a baby is lost or born too soon and struggling in a Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) a printed prayer is given to the family as part of our gift to them. While touching their hearts at this time, it may also plant a seed for Jesus in that family's hearts. It's possible that someday that seed could grow and that person would reap the gift of salvation. Then that gift of love has grown into two gifts, one of love and the other of salvation.
As I mentioned, we also make clothes for those tiny babies that are born into this world much too soon. I remember a story that I received from a mother whose little girl was so tiny and weak that she could not cry. On a visit one day the mother came into the (NICU) to find her sweet baby dress in a little dress, which fit, along with a note. “Mommy, I may be too little to cry but how do I look in my big girl clothes?” The mother expressed that this was the first time she saw her baby as a baby and not some little thing hanging onto life, surrounded by wires and tubes. Seeing her dressed gave her hope that all was going to be okay and that she would take her home to begin that dream that she had for her new baby.
Threads of Love® has truly been an exciting and challenging second career for me. So you see, a needle is a powerful weapon for the Lord and shows His love at a time when the personal pain is hard to endure. By being obedient to the Lord we can be called mighty soldiers armed with our swords, the mighty needle and our shields made of love.
PEARLS IN OUR MINISTRY
I would like to share some of the pearls that the Lord has dropped into my lap over the last twenty years. I am always amazed how He always meets the needs of Threads of Love® sometimes before I even know that there is a need. He is always on time!
My friend Anna Miller is the first pearl He sent. She was first to come along side as we launched this ministry. As Chairperson of the Christian Community Action committee of First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, she began to look for seamstresses in the church as soon as the need became known.
At first Anna and I were using our own money, and then God dropped one of His pearls: a special gift of $100 from Mrs. Katherine Dunham made it possible to buy the first bolt of fabric and lace. The sewing began! We requested volunteers through the church bulletin, stating “all you need is a lot of love and thread.” That’s how the ministry received its name, Threads of Love®, which is now a registered trademark.
DESIGN LANDMARKS:
After Dr. Houseman came to our church with her request, Anna and I started adapting patterns, hoping to fit those tiny babies but the first patterns that we made were way too big. We had no idea how small these babies were!
In June, 1995 Cindy Collins, nurse supervisor for the NICU at Earl K. Long Hospital, asked if tiny day gowns could be made for their babies. Threads of Love® responded with their first design for day gowns and began sewing again!
In the fall of 1996 Jean Kidder designed our first logo for Threads of Love®.
God never sleeps! In October, 1997 Yvonne Marquette, an instructor at the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana State University redesigned , edited and illustrated sewing patterns and instruction. Those patterns are still being used for those ladies visiting our web site.
Our first web site was designed, created and maintained by Dean Cooper in April 1999 of GeauxWeb Technology of Baton Rouge.
GOD’S MINISTRY, GOD’S PROVISION
Anna and I had been stuffing envelopes with copies of our tissue paper patterns, replying to the thousands of requests we received through publicity and word-of-mouth. It dawned on me one day that we had been buying stamps like crazy and I had been writing checks to the US post office didn’t have any idea if we had the money to cover those checks. I told Anna, “Perhaps I had better balance our check book.” I don’t remember exactly how much we were to the good but I had not been writing hot checks. Once again God met our needs.
Let me say at this time I do not endorse any kind of fund raiser. For the last 23 years I have trusted that our Lord would meet our needs and He has been more than faithful. He does not need our help, thank you. Just trust and let Him be your CEO His the best fund raiser you will ever have.
In 1997, I decided to sew Threads of Love® labels on every item we distribute. From September of 1997 to April 2014 Threads of Love has donated 1.8 million items to families in need of interment gowns or gowns for their babies in the NICU. This way, people know that loving hands sewed the items for their child. Printed on every prayer card is the address of the local chapter from whom the gifts were given. This is the way families can send donations and thank you’s to the chapter. Again, I do not endorse any fundraising, because He has proven more than faithful to meet the needs of this ministry.
ONE BOOK, MANY CHAPTERS – The Threads of Love Foundation®.
Threads of Love® signed on it first chapter in Alpharetta, Georgia in 1997. Carolyn Casewell called and asked how to start this in her home town. At that time my in-laws lived in Alpharetta, so we decided that when I went for a visit I would meet with her about getting started. In October, Threads of Love® had it very first chapter, then in November of the following year Therese Poisson of Jamestown, Rhode Island began the second chapter. In addition to today’s 114 active worldwide chapters, interest in beginning new chapters continues to grow.
As more chapters began, we began publishing a handbook to help get them started. This collection of patterns, instructions, prayers, poems and encouraging stories was first published in July of 2002. God provided us with donations totaling $1160! The printing of the handbooks cost $1159.64. You see, God never sleep when you just trust Him to provide for your needs! The second edition of Threads of Love ® handbook was published in February , 2004 followed by two more. The current, 4th Edition of Threads of Love ® was published in August of 2012. Once again Threads of Love® has the need for more handbooks with new information.
By this time Threads of Love ® had achieved so much I felt it was time to file for a non-profit status with the IRS. As of March, 2000, we are known officially as the Threads of Love Foundation®. By April 2006 the Threads of Love ® trademark was registered.
GATHERING TOGETHER
By 2002 we had grown so much I felt the need to start conferences for Threads of Love® so we set the date for the first conference in the fall of 2003. The plan was to allow the women to meet each other to share ideas and encourage each other. I felt that they needed to be encouraged and motivated and to see the impact of their work in reaching out to families at a time of uncertainty in their lives. Even faithful workers need to know that God is faithful in all things. Threads of Love ® held its first bi-annual national conference in Baton Rouge in September, 2003. Since then, we have met in Baton Rouge (Oct. 2006), Louisville, Kentucky, hosted by Ann Maria Trier of the Our Lady of Lourdes chapter (October 2008). In April 2010 Julie Nichols of Rock Hill, South Carolina hosted the 4th Bi-annual conference and the 5th Bi-annual conference in April, 2012 & 2014 was held in Greenwell Springs, Louisiana. Plans are now under way for the 6th Bi-annual conference in April, 2016, which will again be held in Greenwell at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church.
In December, 2003 Threads of Love ® received a trophy and certificate for the ‘Golden Deeds’ award in Baton Rouge.
I have now been working for the Lord for a little over 22 years now and He has never let me down and has always met the needs of Threads of Love®. Sometime the needs come in before He shows up with the money, other times the money comes in, then I know He is about to move. When this happens I say “Lord, what are you up to now?”
By Clinel “Sissy” Davis as told to Tracy Revalee
For more information please visit our web site: http://www.threadsoflove.org
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