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On Miscarriage: Pregnant, Not Pregnant
By Christina Hamilton Miscarriage is such an awkward and horrific thing. Horrific for the woman who loses her baby and awkward for those who love her. No one knows what to say or do. It happened to me. Just a few weeks before my twenty-fourth birthday, I was surprised to discover I was pregnant with my second child. I was late, of course but that is not always the reason. However, I knew for sure that I could be pregnant when my telltale sciatic nerve began acting up while I was giving my two-year-old son his bath. A quick test the next day and a trip to the OB-GYN confirmed it.…
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Growing Up: Remembering the Saints
By Emily Cook “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It is a common question that leads to an entertaining conversation around our dinner table. “I want to be a mommy and have ten babies when I grow up!” “I want to be a car fixer!” “I’m going to give spankings when I grow up.” While we may occasionally get a glimpse into what is important to each child as they answer this question, more often we just get a good laugh. Children really cannot comprehend life that far in the future. As we all know, kids tend to think that life is going to stay just…
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Children of the Heavenly Father
By Holly Scheer 1 Children of the heavenly Father safely in his bosom gather; nestling bird nor star in heaven such a refuge e’er was given. 2 God his own shall tend and nourish; in his holy courts they flourish. From all evil powers he spares them; in his mighty arms he bears them. 3 Neither life nor death shall ever from the Lord his children sever; for to them his grace revealing, he turns sorrow into healing. 4 God has given, he has taken, but his children ne’er forsaken; his the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy. This hymn is one that I sing often to…
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Death and the Pastor’s Family
By Holly Scheer “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”” Revelation 14:13 Congregational deaths can be hard on the pastor and his family, and they’re certainly hard on the family of the dear one who died. Being present with the family and having the chance to help them as they grieve their loved one is a blessing– and a great opportunity to serve our neighbor. But losing a member of our earthly church to the Church Triumphant also…
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Pity, Pittance, and Pie
By Debra-Lynn Swearingen She died as she had lived. Alone. She had been long forgotten by her church and went largely unnoticed by her neighbors. Her illness had rendered her a social misfit. She didn’t communicate well and when she did speak, everyone could tell she was afflicted. Her medication had made her tongue thick, her hands shake, and her body rock back-and-forth. As involuntary as all of it was, one couldn’t help but wish she would stop. At one point, it was it was thought she would benefit from training in simple life functions; making purchases, counting money, and remembering walking paths through town. But her grasp of all that…
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The Loneliness As We Sit Together
By Vanessa Rasanen Last week I wrote about hope. This week so much of that hope is gone. Even when I’m able to spend 5, 10, 30 minutes focused on a project or helping one of my children get dressed or giving them a bath or rocking them to sleep, it doesn’t take long for this painful reality to come and smack me in the face again. Our baby’s dead. Not even alive long enough for his or her heart to start beating. Dead. Gone. And as if that knowledge wasn’t difficult enough as it is… there is the physical reminder, the discomfort, the pain, and the visible evidence of…
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Father’s Day for Christians
By Holly Scheer The history of Father’s Day is interesting. Until this year, I’d never really sat and looked up when and why it started. From what I’ve read, there was an isolated Father’s Day celebration in 1908, but the holiday really formed in 1910, started by a woman to honor her father who as a single parent raised six children. It was held on a Sunday, the date chosen by when the pastor could get his sermons written. You can read more about it here. Father’s Day can be tricky for the reasons outlined by the incredible Sister’s post we featured on Mother’s Day. “Growing up I dreaded…
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On the Loss no one wants to discuss
Editor’s note. Because of the very sensitive nature of this post, comments will be watched carefully. Please remember your compassion before commenting. By Anonymous I am a mother but I have no child. I don’t tell people about my loss and I don’t know if I ever really will. When I think about my baby my feelings are deeply sorrowful and guilty. And ashamed. You see, I had an abortion. I am a mother with no child because my child is dead… and I bear the guilt for it. I’ve repented and been absolved. I’ve grown up more and gotten married. And yet I’ve never gotten over or moved…
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Whitewashed In Brokenness
By Kaitlin Jandereski A lot of normality goes on in this world. People wake up, fix their daily cup of joe and read their Treasury of Daily Prayer. Then they brush their teeth, comb their hair, clock in and end the day with tired feet. It’s all in the day-to-day grind. Except when it’s not. Except when something is off, when your stomach turns before you know why, when your day-to-day life isn’t like any other day anymore. I had a day like that and I think it’s important that we talk about it. *** On a winter eve, a friend of mine had asked me to come to his…
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Loss, Grief, and Miscarriage
–This post was submitted anonymously. I had a miscarriage, and it’s a secret. My child, which was being knit together by God in a secret place died, and became a secret also. He was alive inside me long enough for me to begin dreaming about what his life would be like, but not long enough to seem real now as I look back to this shadowy time in my life. This child, who in my imagination was my son, was a gift given to me years after I had given up the possibility of carrying a child. My pregnancy test turned positive only hours before I heard my pastor preach…
