Heavy heart this morning...

While in Missouri I was so lucky to meet a great group of girls. There were ten of us in our Bible study from all different churches and all different backgrounds, but it just worked. Saying goodbye was hard and i miss them all so much already. On my way out of town, Kelsey called me and asked me to come see her nursey before we left. She and husband Bryan had already been through one very difficult miscarriage months earlier and she was so excited about baby Anna. We had showers and sent cards, and decorated...we were all so happy for Kelsey and Bryan and just knew that they would be excellent parents.

Whitney, one of Kelsey's very dearest friends, called me this morning in tears. Kelsey felt some extra movement and later learned that the baby was strangled by the umbilical cord. She was nine months pregnant and only one week away from her due date. I just do not even have words to tell you how heavy my heart is this morning.

Kelsey will still have to give birth to the baby either today or tomrrow, which sounds just awful, adding insult to injury. I know that these kinds of things happen all the time without any explanation, but the fact is, it's never hit this close to home and my heart is just broken for my friends. I think the very worst thing I keep playing over in my head is them coming home to that empty nursery. This should be the happiest time of their life, and yet, it all changed in an instant. Lord, be their peace and walk them through this valley of the shadow of death.

Below is the email I sent to my Bible study girls this morning.

"Girls, be the hands and feet-- i so wish i was there to help. Think of what you can do, whether it is to bring food, send cards, just sit with her or be a shoulder she can cry on, walk her dog, clean her house, clean the nursery out when she is ready, whatever it is, we need to be there for Kelsey and Bryan.

Can I pray? Will you agree with me?
God, we don't understand your ways and your will and timing, and we are all hurting for Kelsey and Bryan during this awful time of overwhelming sadness. We just pray that you would bring the peace and comfort that only you can bring and hold them in your arms right now even as we pray. You love them so much and your Word says that you will restore what the locusts have taken away and devoured, and in Jeremiah you say that your plans are to prosper and not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope. We believe that you still have the plan and as hard as it is, we believe that you will help Kelsey and Bryan to grow from this and to not only grow closer together but also closer to your heart. Lord, bring peace. Bring healing. We dont have words to say, but at the end of the day we trust you and that is all that we can do."


If you want to send a card to Kelsey and Bryan Himes, even if you don't know them, their address is :
203 N. James Drive
Clinton, MO 64735

Because I think it helps me more to pray when i have a picture in my mind of who i am praying for, here is a picture of the sweet Himes family taken just weeks ago at our going away party.


"The pathway is broken and the signs are unclear,
And I don't know the reason why you've brought me here.
But just because you love me the way that you do,
I'm gonna walk thru the valleys if you want me to.

Cause I'm not who I was when I took my first step,
And I'm clinging to the promise that you're not through with me yet.
But you never said it would be easy...
You only said I'd never go alone.

So when the whole world turns against me and I'm all by myself,
And I cant hear you answer my cries for help,
I'll remember the suffering your love put you through,
And I will walk throught the valley if you want me to."

-Ginny Owens

LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.