2.2 Passing through the Fire: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. The 15th of October is the annual day of observance for this type of tragic loss. Emily and Kate decided to dedicate an episode to discussing their own losses and how God grants us the strength and endurance to grieve for our little ones. They also discuss how Scripture gives us the words for expressing our deep sadness and helps all of us comfort one another.
Show Notes:
"Well, wholly well, is it for me to cleave to You, O glorious and ever-blessed Head, on Whom the angels yearn to look. Wherever You go, there will I follow You; if You pass through the fire, I will not be turned from You. I will fear no evil, for You are with me. You carry my griefs, and grieve for my sake; and through the narrow portal of the Passion You enter first, to make a wider passage for Your limbs that follow You." - Bernard of Clairvaux
“Let our prayer be a sweet incense and our faith a victory, that we may go forth in Your power and knowledge and overcome evil. And when You are pleased to try us in the furnace of affliction, comfort us again and again, that we may behold Your glory and praise You.” - General prayer
Job references: Chapter 3, 14, 19, 41-42
2 Corinthians 1:9-10 -
For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us.
Lamentations 3:22-26 NKJV -
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:31-33 -
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For He does not afflict [a]willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
Psalm 130 -
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
3 If You, Lord, should [a]mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
Psalm 18:1-6 (selections) -
“The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me…the snares of death confronted me….In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.”
"I long for home, long for the sight of home.
If any god has marked me out again
for shipwreck, my tough heart can undergo it.
What hardship have I not long since endured
at sea, in battle! Let the trial come."
- The Odyssey
“The sob he had fought with so long refused to be beaten. Up and up, it forced its way to the air, and then another, and another, and others thick and fast; till poor Mole at last gave up the struggle, and cried freely and helplessly and openly, now that he knew it was all over and he had lost what he could hardly be said to have found.” - The Wind in the Willows
A Gift of Time: Continuing Your Pregnancy When Your Baby's Life Is Expected to Be Brief by Amy Kuebelbeck and Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D
Find Emily at: https://agoodwilderness.substack.com/