I haven’t felt especially inspired to write at this here blog lately, but that’s not because I haven’t had lots of amazing thoughts and discoveries lately. I sometimes just feel like I don’t have the adequate words to describe them. I read a lot, and I am quite often humbled by the magnificent writing of great storytellers. That’s one thing I have never been very good at, storytelling. I can talk up a storm, but the ability to weave a compelling story is a special gift I don’t have.
But leave it to hormones to make me all emotive. Yesterday I heard a lot of bad news. A blogger I read who contributes at this awesome site for moms of boys called The Mob Society lost her entire house and dog in a fire. Her family is thankfully not harmed. Another blogger who is a member of Beth Moore’s Siestas community and a wife and mother of two girls had a massive stroke and is currently fighting for her life. I can’t even imagine what they are going through right now.
My thoughts also turned to Haiti as we remember the anniversary of the devastating earthquake that took hundreds of thousands of lives and left millions homeless even still. I watched some incredible videos, one of a tent city that is functioning fairly well without aid, and one of the Ivey family the day they were finally able to bring their adopted son Amos home from Haiti right after the earthquake. Moving stuff.
For some reason yesterday, and this is unusual for me, I thought of the baby I lost before Alex was born. Someone on Mike’s blog had said that 2006 was the best year ever (I guess for PSU sports and college kids it was) which made me remember my miscarriage that year. Sometimes I still grieve that child, but without that event we wouldn’t have had Alex, who is adorable and precious and funny and feisty. God is sovereign. That photo of me and Nathan was taken at the height of my grief, the weekend after our fateful ultrasound but before my D&E. I love that photo, it is a strong reminder of the unique life that I never got to hold.
Oddly enough later in the day yesterday I stumbled across a review on Amazon for a new bestselling book called Heaven is For Real, by Todd Burpo. I’ve never been into that kind of book, but since it’s going to be the NYTimes #1 best seller this week I was curious.
It’s a supposedly true story about a 4 year old son of a Nebraska pastor who during surgery goes to heaven and comes back, telling amazing details in the way only a child could, including meeting details about a great-grandfather he never knew and meeting his miscarried sister he didn’t even know about. Of course I’m highly skeptical of stuff like that, but the first review I read was also by a Christian skeptic, and he seemed to find it remarkably believable. What caught my attention was he specifically recommended the book for mothers who had lost a child to miscarriage. It kind of startled me. So I’ll be picking up that book now. I’ll let you know what I think.
Let me know what you think about the book. I would be interested in checking it out if you have the same assessment of it as the other reveiwer.
Without my miscarriage we wouldn’t have had Gwen, and that is impossible to imagine. In the end, it worked out how it was supposed to… but that doesn’t take away the grief of that loss. It doesn’t make it any easier to think of the child that might have been. And even years later, I think its normal and healthy to remember that.
Let me know what you think about the book. I would be interested in checking it out if you have the same assessment of it as the other reveiwer.
Without my miscarriage we wouldn’t have had Gwen, and that is impossible to imagine. In the end, it worked out how it was supposed to… but that doesn’t take away the grief of that loss. It doesn’t make it any easier to think of the child that might have been. And even years later, I think its normal and healthy to remember that.
What a touching post. They don’t all have to be cheery and full of grand ideas. I like this one. It’s soft and real. Those stories of tragedy remind me that my life is pretty great and I need to quit complaining so much. Thanks! Lisa~
What a touching post. They don’t all have to be cheery and full of grand ideas. I like this one. It’s soft and real. Those stories of tragedy remind me that my life is pretty great and I need to quit complaining so much. Thanks! Lisa~
I hope you find comfort in the book. And I’m sorry for your loss.
I hope you find comfort in the book. And I’m sorry for your loss.
I would love to hear your book review. We have lost babies, but one is particularly bittersweet because a month after our baby died in utero, I was pregnant with my (now) 9 yo daughter. It’s hard to grieve a child who isn’t there and think about if he WAS there then I wouldn’t have my first girl in my life, either.
Someday it will all be clear, someday I’ll know the whole plan, and someday our whole family will be together.
I would love to hear your book review. We have lost babies, but one is particularly bittersweet because a month after our baby died in utero, I was pregnant with my (now) 9 yo daughter. It’s hard to grieve a child who isn’t there and think about if he WAS there then I wouldn’t have my first girl in my life, either.
Someday it will all be clear, someday I’ll know the whole plan, and someday our whole family will be together.
What a touching post. They don’t all have to be cheery and full of grand ideas. I like this one. It’s soft and real. Those stories of tragedy remind me that my life is pretty great and I need to quit complaining so much. Thanks! Lisa~
What a touching post. They don’t all have to be cheery and full of grand ideas. I like this one. It’s soft and real. Those stories of tragedy remind me that my life is pretty great and I need to quit complaining so much. Thanks! Lisa~
Would love to know your thoughts on that book! It’s sitting on my shelf right now…haven’t read it yet.
Would love to know your thoughts on that book! It’s sitting on my shelf right now…haven’t read it yet.
I’m a slow reader, and am about 3/4 of the way through it. It’s a cute book, an entertaining read, but I’m still a skeptic about the whole story. Is it possible it’s true and happened exactly as the little boy told it? Sure. Do I think he was really in the actual Heaven and sat on Jesus’ lap? No…but that’s ok. I haven’t found the book all the comforting, but it is a pleasant read.
I’m a slow reader, and am about 3/4 of the way through it. It’s a cute book, an entertaining read, but I’m still a skeptic about the whole story. Is it possible it’s true and happened exactly as the little boy told it? Sure. Do I think he was really in the actual Heaven and sat on Jesus’ lap? No…but that’s ok. I haven’t found the book all the comforting, but it is a pleasant read.