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There is a truth in this world that seems so quite simple that it feels like it need not even be mentioned, but sadly the act of not mentioning it has made it become forgotten. This truth is that there is a father behind every pregnancy, and thus, there is a grieving father behind every loss.

Mothers of lost pregnancies and miscarriages get most of the attention in their distress and rightly so. They are the ones that carried the baby in their bodies; and they are the ones that got the first inclination of the horrible fact that something was terribly wrong. They are also the first to feel the emotional aftershocks of losing the child. However, having said that, by the time the effects of the loss hit the father, enough time had passed that there is nothing left to help them.

Despite what many would have you think, emotion is a human trait, not strictly a female one...

Why? Why us and not them? Why them and not us? Why is life so incredibly unfair at times? Why, when all around me I see women having healthy babies, do we have to walk through a story of loss… again?  The first time, I didn’t have so many questions… now let the questions roll.   And as my heart has shouted and whispered those questions, I haven’t been able to shake all the recent stories I’ve heard that have only lifted my eyes to the fact that I do not live in a world of fairness…

Life is absolutely unfair.

And there are times and seasons where we are faced with the reality of it’s unfairness.   For my family, friends and for us, this is one of those times.   Where it’s not just in a story I’ve read on the news and my heart has broken just a little and then moved on but it’s in the story unfolding in our lives and the heartache pouring from our hearts as we cry out… This is so unfair!!   But the past few weeks I’ve been reminded that we are not the only ones who have experienced the unfairness of life, the sheer seemingly “randomness” of tragedy and pain. Most of the world knows that life can be so unfair. And there is one… who suffered the greatest unfairness of it all. And when I wonder…

The short and sweet answer to this is a resounding YES, absolutely.  Mother’s who have lost babies/children are especially in need of being acknowledged on Mother’s Day.  But some people ask, “if I acknowledge Mother’s Day, won’t that make them sad and feel hurt?”.  They may feel sad but they will not be hurt by you remembering them on Mother’s Day. In fact, it is very precious to them to be remembered because they are still a mother. Even if their baby/child is not with them, they are still a mother and love their child with all their heart.

How should I acknowledge Mother’s Day for my friend who is the loss mom? A simple note goes a long way, telling her that you are thinking of her on Mother’s Day as she remembers her sweet child. Specifically saying the child’s name is very important to loss moms also. We offer a free personalized file called “I Love to Hear Your Name” if you wish to request one for the loss mom in your life.

There are other tangible gift ideas also.  A remembrance print such as a personalized family tree which includes all members of the family with the flying bird representing the heavenly baby. Or a print specifically for the heavenly baby such as our Baby in Hands series, which is personalized with the baby’s name and date.   Of course, there are many other ways to remember Mother’s Day for a loss mom, flowers, jewelry, a text, or a call. The most important thing is that you do remember and acknowledge Mother’s Day, it will mean so much to the loss mom. You will show her how much you care for her and love her.

Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash

“I feel oddly more alive than I’d ever been in my life.  The scars on my battered soul no longer appear to me as random slashes but suddenly transfigured into engravings of unexpected praise and thanksgiving.” Beth Moore wrote this in a devotional I’ve been walking through and as I read it I sensed “This is what the Lord is beginning to do in my heart!”

Though my heart still hurts, the sadness is still there and the tears still come… somewhere in the last couple of weeks the weight of the sorrow is not so heavy.  There is a lightness to my spirit, a lightness to the tears.

A sweet reminder in this journey that our great God is the Great Restorer.  The Great Redeemer.   Everything that is broken, He is in the business of redeeming.  everything.

As we had Sophie’s epic (yes it was epic) life celebration service, I spent time writing a letter to my daughter of the ways God has used (and is using) her 42 weeks, 2 days and 10 hours of life in my life.  This is the letter I shared at her service.

Dear Sophie,

Today we celebrate your life with family & friends & people I’ve never met but who love you deeply.  I wish we were just taking a one month photoshoot of you and quietly celebrating your one month birthday in our home and no one really knows except our family.  I wish a lot of things today for you, for us, that are not to be.  For this is not our story, and this is not your story.  So we celebrate your short, yet powerful little life today.  Sophie, you have touched the lives of thousands by never uttering more than a cry yet there are no lives you have changed more than your mom and dad’s.