Be Not Afraid

In my last post, about the people and groups that really helped and supported us, I left out one important person and group.  Tracy and her team at Be Not Afraid really helped and support us in our time of need. 

What is Be Not Afraid?   Be Not Afraid (BNA) is a private non-profit corporation whose mission is to provide comprehensive, practical, and peer-based support to parents experiencing a prenatal diagnosis and carrying to term.  In addition, BNA encourages development of new services so more parents find support at diagnosis by offering training, consulting and technical assistance as well as materials to other organizations and individuals committed to service development. 

Tracy took a personal interest in our family.  Thank you, Tracy, for listening to me when I need someone to listen. 

This beautiful video called, Be Not Afraid Couples 2013, was done by a friend of Be Not Afraid.  There are a few pictures of Michael in I in the video below: 

http://animoto.com/play/LirHqwH9Xh0F9R0iOaevqw

Please tell us what support groups helped you or what people listened to you when you needed someone to hear your grief?

Please pray for me as we continue to pray for you.  God bless! 

Sad, Bad New

I know I have said this before but I am going to say it again.  We have an amazing community.  We have a prayer warrior community.  When bad things happen we often hear of them in the form of  prayer requests. 

A few day ago we received really sad, bad news.  The first message was to pray for two little girls who were in a car accident.  Then next message was that the two little girls had died in the hospital in their parents arms. 

Wow!  This message jolted me.  I can't even imagine being the mother of these two girls.  As a mother who lost a baby the emotions come back all over again.  I feel the hurt for this mom.  I guess it is not so bad to carry some of her pain.  Lord help me to shoulder some of Rebecca's cross. 

The beautiful Lewis Family

Please pray for Sean, Rebecca, and Vivian Lewis.  If you can please make a financial contribution to the Sean and Becca Lewis Fund any amount is helpful. 

Peter Bear

There are so many support systems out there for families who have lost babies.  One friend often reminds people of two that help when you have lost a child.  The Seashore of Remembrance and The Church of Holy Innocents.

The Seashore of Remembrance sends you hand drawn pictures of your child's name beautifully written in the sand at the beach. 

The Shrine of the Holy Innocents will send you a certificate of Life in honor of your child.  Nancy had both of these done for us when Peter died. They are in our Peter box. 

Another treasure which was ordered shortly after Peter died but we just received last week on Monday just between my birthday and James was Peter Bear. 

What is our Peter Bear?  Our Peter Bear is a teddy bear made with love by a volunteer from Molly Bear.  The bear weighs the exact weight as your child, in our case 11 lbs 3.3 oz.  Molly Bears are created by a family who  lost their daughter at 34 weeks.  The family was givien the idea of a bear that weighed the same weight as their baby.  They decided they wanted to do the same for other families.  What a beautiful story and a wonderful addition to our family.   

 
Finally I'm going to tell you about one more family close to my heart.  They had their fourth baby on Peter's due date which was also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Sadly, the year before they lost their third baby Melody.  During their grieving process, while working to teach their children that Melody was in heaven with the saints, they started a wonderful saint company called Tiny Saints.  Colleen kindly sent us our patron saints on Peter's birthday.  I am ever more excited because they are coming out this month with four new tiny saints, one being St. Peter. Awesome!!! 

I am planning to share some blogs soon. 

Please pray for me as I continue to pray for your family.  God Bless.