As many of you know, tomorrow (October 15th) is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death.
I am blessed to have this blog, to have many people who pray for me and for my family. I am honored every day at the way complete strangers have made a difference in the way I am processing the loss of my daughter. I don’t take it for granted. Not for one moment. Thank you.
In the process, I have met many, many women who have lost their sons and daughters, and I have been praying about ways to make this blog about them as well as Audrey. Last week, the Lord spoke to me, and I was inspired to do this…
If you have lost a baby (and yes, I consider a miscarriage in ANY week to be the loss of a life) to infant death or miscarriage, I want the honor of praying for you. But I want others to be able to pray for you as well, the way they have for me. So, if you are one of those women, will you please leave a comment on this post and tell us your name, the nature of your loss (date, what happened etc), and the child/children’s names so that we can pray for you.
You may post as “anonymous” for this post (I have altered settings to allow this), and you are welcome to leave as much info as you feel comfortable. If you don’t want to share private information, you are welcome to just say, “I lost a baby” and we will pray for you.
If you are a reader of this blog, and you want to be one of the “prayer warriors,” please scroll through the comments and be on your knees for all of the families who have lost their little ones.
Here is a quote I found the other day….I hope it speaks to you the way it has me.
“Jacob, where do you find the strength to carry on in life?”
“Life is often heavy only because we attempt to carry it,” said Jacob. “But I do find a strength in the ashes.”
“In the ashes?” asked Mr. Gold.
“Yes,” said Jacob, with a confirmation that seemed to have traveled a great distance.
“You see, Mr. Gold, each of us is alone. Each of us is in the great darkness of our ignorance. And, each of us is on a journey.
“In the process of our journey, we must bend to build a fire for light, and warmth, and food.
“But when our fingers tear at the ground, hoping to find the coals of another’s fire, what we often find is the ashes.
“And, in those ashes, which will not give us light or warmth, there may be sadness, but there is also testimony.
“Because these ashes tell is that somebody else has been in the night, somebody else has bent to build a fire, and somebody else has carried on.
“And that can be enough, sometimes.”
~Noah benShea
I will start.
My name is Angie Smith. I lost my first child to miscarriage in January of 2002. I lost my daughter Audrey Caroline shortly after birth on April 7th, 2008 due to conditions that made her incompatible with life….
…and provide for those who grieve in Zion-
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair…
Isaiah 61:2-3
Blessings to you, my sisters in sorrow.
Angie
