Blessed Be Your Name

I have a friend who is trying to decide when or if she wants to have another child. She has two beautiful daughters and then just a few months ago, she lost a precious babe in her second trimester of pregnancy. No reason; the little one was just gone. Now, she has been struggling over whether she can go through something like that again. Someone told her that when the desire for another child was stronger than her fear of losing another child, then she would be ready.
I can't help her right now. I can only listen and give hugs. I have never gone through what my friend has had to face. I did have a miscarriage a few years ago. But it was very early; I had only known I was pregnant for two weeks. Not that it didn't hurt and not that I didn't have a rough go of it for a bit. But it doesn't compare to losing a child that you have started to feel move, or losing a child that you've held in your arms. That is a pain that I cannot imagine. I guess that's a pain that no one can imagine until they have gone through it.
I was listening to the radio earlier today and "Blessed Be Your Name" came on and I was singing away. I was reminded of the Steven Curtis Chapman concert Hub and I went to a few weeks ago. He opened with that song. He said that it was the song that kept coming to him in the early hours after his daughter's accident. I was in tears just thinking about what that must be like. Then he came to the part of the song "you give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name." He broke down singing "take away." Everyone in the audience was still and teary, and then he invited everyone to sing. It was truly amazing listening to all these people singing along with SCC and sharing his pain. The entire concert was moving and awe-inspiring. The fact that a person can go through such an horrific loss and still cling to God is what defines a faithful person. I want to be a person like that. So far, I have been. But I haven't had to lose what others have had to lose.
I read a lot of other blogs. I have recently come across a few that deal with losing a child. And I sit and read and cry along as I'm reading. And I've noticed that the blogs that are written by Christians have a decidedly different feel. When a person has hope and faith in God, even when the darkness surrounds them, the light can still be found.
I pray that I can remember that and cling to God if I am ever surrounded by darkness.
After all, He has given me so much and I have three wonderful blessings He entrusted to me. And I have to teach them the right way; the way to God.