Myrtle entered my life 40 years ago when a friend of mine was a Peace Corps volunteer, stationed in a small village in western Africa. To keep his spirits up during his stay, I sent him letters on a regular basis. As a thank-you for the letters and my encouragement, a gift arrived one day from him. Inside the package was a stone carving of some human-like form. It was banged up with a few cracks weaving their way through the somewhat heavy mass. “It’s a fertility goddess,” his enclosed note said. “And it has been used in this village for more than 100 years!”

I was bewildered. I was young and single. Why the heck did I need a fertility goddess? These thoughts were followed by a question: if this sacred object did work, why would the villagers want to be rid of it? Maybe, I surmised, the village was overpopulated. No matter. This blob of a statue was now mine. I put it on the bookcase and called it “Myrtle the Fertile” when friends asked what it was.

Myrtle moved with me from apartment to apartment for the remainder of my single years. The only time “she” was given much thought was when I dusted her off.

Then I got married and received the news from my doctor that I might never be able to have a baby. (I had some sort of a hormone problem!) During the time that my husband and I were undergoing fertility testing, I decided to do some serious house cleaning. When I started to dust the bookcase, my eyes fell upon Myrtle. Do you think she works?

I brought her down from her perch and said, “If you really do work, do your thing!” I repeated these words for a few more days. Two weeks later we received the news that I was pregnant. This, I was sure, was due to all our prayers to God, but…do you think?

Myrtle was moved to a spot of honor on the bookcase and the news of her successful intervention—if that was what it was—spread to family and friends. When my sister’s sister-in-law heard about Myrtle, she asked to borrow the stone goddess. After trying for a baby for years, this quirky woman—she was and is a bit different—wanted to see if Myrtle could help her. I gave Myrtle to my sister to pass on to her relative.

Success! This woman became pregnant while Myrtle was visiting her house. Even more amazing, my sister, who wasn’t planning on another child at that time, became pregnant when she had the fertility goddess in her possession before passing it on to her sister-in-law!

I no longer lend Myrtle out. I continue to believe that God’s will is what accounted for all these pregnancies. He was and is the power behind the prayers. But...?