This Much I Know

There are a lot of things in this world that I don't know, despite the fact that I have pursued a lifetime of learning. How, for example, can you go from highest joy to fear to grief in just the space of a few sentences? Why does your nose swell when you cry? How can a parent make the pain go away for their children?

I found out two days ago that I was going to be a grandmother..... maybe, but there could be complications. Yesterday I found out that the baby was miscarried. I wish my father was still alive so I could crawl up on his lap again and have him explain to me why my tears taste like salt. I wish my mother was still able to make the pain go away. And most of all, I wish I could have spared my son and daughter-in-law this grief they are going through. Unfortunately, I just don't know how to do that.
But this much I know!

I know that a mother and a father have to grieve no matter how early or how late in a pregnancy a baby is lost.

I know that a baby in the womb is more than just a combination of cells that really mean nothing much until it is born, despite what they tried to tell us in the Sixties during Women's Liberation, and even today. I learned this the hard way. And ever since, I've tried to be as honest as possible with teenagers I've come into contact with and my own children about that fact. When you are pregnant, you are carrying a child....a human life. And the loss of that life will have a tremendous impact on you.

I know that God is in control and that not one life is lost, whether in the womb or having lived on this earth for many years without it being taken into account through His Divine Plan.

I know that those of us who have lost unborn children whether it was via miscarriage, stillbirth, or even abortion.....if we are Christians who have claimed Christ as our Savior and have been washed in His blood, then we will see our children in Heaven. The Bible says in Psalm 22:10 .."from my mother's womb you have been my God." In Psalm 139: 13-16 God is revealed as knowing us even before we were born, of forming us in the womb, and of allotting to each of us the number of days for our lives. The God of the universe, who has taken such care with the formation of a tiny life, has also provided for that child in His perfect plan.

Yes, this much I know. And someday, when I reach Heaven, I will have a joyous meeting with my two children I have not yet had the chance to hold and one beloved grandchild.