I never knew.
I never knew that babies could die.
...at least not like that.
I never knew that everything could look perfectly fine and healthy
until it wasn’t.
I never knew that umbilical cords could tangle into knots and tighten so tightly
that they could take an innocent life.
I never knew that after 271 days of carrying my baby inside of me
her life could stop in an instant.
I never knew the nursery I had decorated, the diapers I had organized, the clothes I had washed
would remain empty and unused.
I never knew the agony of pushing to deliver my baby girl
knowing I would only be met with silence and death.
I never knew the heaviness of holding my child’s lifeless body in my arms.
I never knew the heartache of telling my living children that their sweet baby sister couldn’t come home with us… ever.
I never knew what torture it was to go to a funeral for your daughter.
...to walk down the aisle to her casket
...to stare at that casket as you follow the hearse in the rain to a cemetery
...to kiss her goodbye one last time as I whispered, ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you.’
I never knew what it was like to watch my daughter’s casket being buried
and to have a piece of myself buried with it.
I never knew that life could be so cruel.
I never knew… until I did.
But, Jesus.
I never knew how much I needed Him.
I never knew how present He could be in the deepest valleys.
I never knew how true it was that my circumstances don’t determine His goodness.
I never knew how He could use such a horrific story to bring such tremendous healing and comfort to others.
I never knew how to fully love my living children, until He showed me how precious their lives really were.
I never knew how to live ‘heaven-minded’ until He took a part of my heart to live there.
I never knew how much He loved me.
I never really knew… until I did.