We're at the start of the hustle and bustle season, the one that reminds you that there is no such thing as a quick trip to Walmart, or getting everything on your to-do list accomplished. It's cold outside and blustery and I could stand in a hot shower until the hot water runs out and my back itches, but its so worth it just to feel WARM.
It's that season, the one without a free second to think about anything other than what you have to do today, tomorrow, and before then next Christmas party. The one that makes me consider giving up homeschooling because I'm not sure how to do school when there is so much Christmas to do.
I do love this season, though. It's full of crafts, dancing, singing, joy, and so much sugar. All in celebration of something truly wonderful, the birth of Christ.
Today, though, as I stood in that shower much longer than I should have, I was remembering dear friends. The ones that have moved away, or life has gotten between us. Our friendship still runs deep but its been so long since we really talked or spent time together, Many live too far away for this to happen, and a few, we just can't find time in our schedules. But each of these dear friends have impacted my heart so deeply in so many ways.
I have the good friends who came up to visit impromptu, the day they heard I was miscarrying, the friends that went swimming with us while we waited for an impending miscarriage, the cousin that sent me cards for months after my first loss, just to let me know she was thinking of me. There was the impromptu box of sunshine that appeared at my door two weeks after we lost Isaiah, and the blue and yellow flowers that showed up on his due date. There are the friends that were with us when we started to miscarry our second baby, the ones that held us as we cried and prayed over us as we headed for home.
It is strange to me that these would be the things that come into my head while I'm in the midst of the Christmas season and in the midst of all our adoption preparations. But I guess I am reminded that people are what really matter. Whatever impact you make for a family who has lost a child, you are making a lasting impact. Whether your relationship with them is close or not, they will never forget your kind gesture. A card, flowers, a meal. They go the distance in healing a hurting heart.
If you know a family who is experiencing, or has experienced the loss of a baby, in pregnancy or soon after, do something to show that you care. It doesn't have to be showy or expensive, even a simple card to show you're thinking of them can bring some level of comfort.
As always, follow these guidelines for things NOT to say and TO say when someone has lost a baby.
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