Day Eighty-Nine

Today is the one-year anniversary of the death of my friend's baby boy. He had a genetic condition that was diagnosed in the womb. The doctors told my friend he would not live and she could have an abortion. Instead, she carried him as long as she could (almost to term) just so she could have those few precious moments with him before he died once he was born. Her love and dedication to this child is an amazing testimony of the love we are able to extend because of how God loves us! While I am praying for her and her family today as they remember the difficult details of that day one year ago, I am also praying for her marriage as they continue to fight grief that threatens to rip their marriage apart. I know I have already prayed for couples who have suffered miscarriage and couples who have suffered the loss of a child, but I don't think we can pray for them enough. So today, I again pray for couples who have experienced this awful loss. I pray that they will see redemption this side of Heaven and that the peace of God, which surpasses alllllll understanding, will overwhelm their hearts. I pray that while they grieve, the child will not overshadow their focus on God, their focus on their other children, or their focus on each other. I pray that they will grieve together and learn how to encourage and love their spouse through their own way of grieving. I pray that their marriage grows strong not in grief, but in exploring the joy of salvation and the hope of seeing not only their child again, but Jesus himself. I pray against bitterness toward God and each other, and for friends who will support them and love them through this process. I praise God for his faithfulness to all of his children, regardless of how they're hurting or how they're responding to life. I praise him for his passion for us and how he stands beside us and fights for all of us.