Sweet Baby

Tuesday morning I flipped through my emails on my phone as I headed out the door. Seeing one from a friend that I hadn’t heard from in a long time and reading the title, I eagerly opened it expecting to see pictures of her new little one. Instead I found a short email that simply stated that her beautiful baby girl had been silently born just a week shy of her actual due date. And my heart broke right there in a million pieces.

She and I haven’t been close for quite a few years, careers, families, busy life. However, she is part of my story, the fiber of my life. She was a roommate in college, she weathered with me my first serious break-up and even let me play the same sad CD a million times on our way to Spring Break, we shared morning cereal and soap opera’s over lunch breaks, many of my funny stories from college have her as a central figure and probably most importantly, we shared our faith and have prayed for and with each other. I have watched her go from funny college girl, to career woman, to wife, to mother, and she makes it look extremely easy.

I debated over whether to go to the service today. It’s almost an hour drive from where I work and I reasoned that she wouldn’t know if I was there or not. As soon as the debate began, it was over though. I got in the car and made the drive to the cemetery for the graveside service. The service was short and poignant.

My friend and her husband are secure in where their hope lies and where their beautiful baby girl is right now. God is their Comforter and he will continue to be. The service reflected this and acknowledged the grief but also the hope that comes together at a time like this. Sorrow for what has been lost and taken away but also joy in knowing that this is not the end, there is more.

My prayer is that God will wrap my friend and her husband in His comfort and peace and carry them through this time.