In Loving Memory

On Saturday, we had a memorial service for our babies.  It was so good to surrender this situation to the Lord and to honor our children we never got to meet.  We are so thankful to know that our babies are in heaven and that because we know Jesus, we will see them again one day! 

We set up a table with the plants and flowers given to us after both babies passed away.

 Ben wood burned their names onto a cross so we will always have a memorial to them.  We chose to re-name the first baby Amare, which is a Latin name meaning "beloved."  And our second baby, we named Micah, which means "who is like God?"

We sang Amazing Grace and Because He Lives, Holly read a few Scriptures, and Ben read a letter he wrote to the babies, along with a song I wrote for them (I was too emotional to sing).  We also played the songs "With Hope" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and "Homesick" by Mercy Me.

We love the words of the chorus in "With Hope," which says:

"And we can cry with hope, we can say good-bye with hope

'cause we know our good-bye is not the end

and we can grieve with hope, 'cause we believe with hope

there's a place where we'll see your face again"

We placed the cross by a tree in our backyard.

We were so thankful to have my parents, Ben's parents, Heather and Ryan, Holly and Joel, and Daniel and Michelle with us to support us as we surrendered our babies to the Lord.

We wore white rather than black to symbolize the innocence of babies, Jesus' washing our sins away, and the hope and brilliance of heaven.  While it is so difficult to accept the plan God had for Amare and Micah, we are so thankful that this life is not all there is.  We rejoice in the promise of the life to come! 

We would certainly appreciate your continued prayers as we grieve, and as we seek the Lord's guidance in our desire to add more children to our family.