Faith

I blog surf. And while blog surfing from Katie's blog, I came across a good friend of hers from Baylor, also named Katie. Lets call her K to make this less confusing.

I read K's blog regularly now because it's a reminder every day of what faith looks like- in real people. After reading in reverse chronological order, the posts from the last year, I have learned that K lost her baby girl just days after she was born. And being a new mother, this is something that stretches my capacity for sadness, in a way that I, a person who is already accutely sensitive to death and loneliness, never could have understood before. I cannot imagine anything as heartbreaking or grievous as the loss of your own child. A baby you carried and created, prayed for, hoped for and anticipated, for the better part of a year.

And yet, I always finish reading her blog more inspired than tearful. The way K handles it makes me understand what real faith looks and sounds like. Yes, she grieves for Reese, but she also thanks God every day for carrying her, for loving Reese, and for the promise that they will be together again one day.

While reading through the comments in today's post which was about using this experience as an opportunity to minister to others, I came across this comment from a reader:

Thank you, Katie, for always being so open with your faith and your grief. I never thought that I would lose a child, but here I am, at 21 weeks pregnant, expecting to lose my child shortly after his birth. We are committed to loving and caring for him while I do carry him, but my heart aches when I think about what is to come. But I, too, know that the Lord will be by our side through it all. Thank you for your post today!

Can you imagine? I guess it is why we are supposed to spend the good days learning about God and furthering our walk with Him, so that when the bad, horrible, almost unforgivable days come, we can rely on our faith.

Faith is to believe what we do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. -- St. Augustine

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1