June can't come soon enough...

I have a friend...

Just 2 days ago she messaged me about a friend of hers whose baby girl was found to no longer have a heart beat at 37 weeks pregnant...

This was the 3rd such message I have gotten from this same friend in the past 10 months...

All of these 3 young women live pretty close to me...

I have been blessed to get together with 2 of these precious young women in the past few months... There is for me an undeniable automatic bond I feel to someone whom I know has experienced the same  heart wrenching loss of a child.

My heart absolutely breaks for this young couple whose sweet baby girl is already safely in Heaven...

Don't get me wrong... I am the wife of a pastor... I know FULLY the HOPE we have in HEAVEN... and my heart fully rejoices now in the reunion I will one day have with Samuel, baby Joel we were to adopt, and baby Taylor (the baby we miscarried in February 2010)

But in all honesty, when Samuel died even Heaven seemed TOO far away... what if I lived to be 70... or 80?  That meant that I wouldn't be with my baby, that I so desperately wanted right then, for at least 33 years... That thought was unbearable...

So even though I don't know this young mama... my heart hurts with her... my heart grieves with hers... She is not far from  my mind... She has been in my prayers so often over the last few days...

For this reason... June can not come soon enough... Of course I am happy to offer any help or support right  now at any time... but I can not wait to have MEND Chicagoland up and running where women like these young ladies can know that they do not have journey through this loss alone...

We will be there to support them, listen to them, remember their babies with them, care for them, pray for them... cry with them... As much as I hate that there is another family that will walk the hard journey of life with out one of their child here with them...

I am so thankful that there will soon be a place here where they can go where people really do get it... they get it because they too have experienced the same... walking forward each and everyday missing their babies... walking forward in HOPE of eternity... walking forward with the support of other moms and dads who truly understand...

I appreciate any prayers for getting MEND going here... All of our brochures and sympathy cards are being printed and soon we start the push to promote MEND here in the Chicagoland area in Hospitals, church, funeral homes, and Doctor's offices... Thanks so much friends...