blogger made me do it

I can't blame blogger for all my failures to complete the Every Day in May blogging challenge. But this is the second time in the last few weeks I've tried to post but blogger was out of service. So instead of blogging last night, I read A Symphony n the Dark: Hearing God's Voice in Seasons of Grief, by Barbara Rainey and Rebecca Rainey Mutz. I got in bed around 10pm and read it straight through in about an hour and a half (except for the times I had to stop and wipe the tears out of my eyes with my sheets).


These two women tell the story of baby Molly, born with an unexpected and inoperable brain defect, and of the Lord's upholding them through it all. It's written in a journalistic style, going back and forth between the mother and grandmother's perspective and it will break your heart and make you want to cling to Jesus at the same time. It will make you want to go hold your kids for a good long time, and I don't think I'll pass any opportunities to tell my children I love them for a while. This family (and the Lord's presence and grace in them) shows how to deal with the death of a child in such a meaningful way. After calling many Children's Hospitals around the country, consulting with friends in the medical profession, doctors (3rd and 4th opinions), and hearing that there was never a child with this disease who lived, they decided to take baby Molly off life-support in order to let her die with her family instead of in a risky surgery that would most-likely kill her. What an amazing example of leaving no stone unturned and making sure they would have no regrets at the end, and yet still submitting to the sovereignty of God and the realization that there was nothing they could do to save their daughter.

Part of me was hesitant to read it because it's hard reading. Even if I never find myself in such a sorrowful situation, it's likely I will have friends walking down that road. And this book is a great resource to know how to be a real friend to those who are suffering. I have a lot to learn in that area, but reading such intimate details of the life of one family who lost their baby girl has impacted me and I hope will help if ever we are walking in this valley with our children.

Rebecca Mutz, the mother of baby Molly, had a late miscarriage with her second pregnancy. Check out her blog to find out what the Lord has done for her family.