The Saturday Six

*** This week's book review is accompanied by a giveaway, so don't miss that at the end! ***


One.

One of my friends loaned me To Joey, With Love, which is a documentary-style film Rory Feek made about his late wife (Joey). I knew I was going to cry. In fact, I stopped watching it once, but she insisted I finish. And I think I took crying to a whole new level. Like Notebook level crying. It was a well done piece, and for that alone, I say watch it, but take a whole pile of tissues with you. It will wreck you.

Two.

I don't know if you saw it on the blog this past Wednesday, but I started a new Wednesday series called "Walk a Mile in My Shoes Wednesday." My goal is to feature different occupations and life situations that perhaps people don't fully understand if they haven't lived in it. I think we can all benefit from learning what it's like to see life from the perspective of those who work in certain areas every day. I have many ideas of people to talk to, but if you have a unique occupation or you live with/in a certain situation (maybe with a chronic illness or something) that you'd like people to understand more, shoot me an email! I'd love to hear more from you! readingrebekah at yahoo (dot) com!  

Three.

I need to update my white t-shirt in my capsule wardrobe. The one I have now is dear to me because it was one of the first pieces of clothing Ryan ever bought me. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut he bought it in our first year of marriage, and four years of a white shirt = time for an update. I found this article of ways to wear a white t-shirt in fall, and since some of it inspired me, I thought maybe it might inspire you, too! 

Four.

Proud wife moment!! I think you'll recognize the guy in scrubs. And the story is quite inspiring. 

Five.

This made me giggle, giggle, giggle. (And if you're not familiar with The Babylonian Bee site, it's complete satire, so keep that in mind when reading!) 

Six.

Source 

 

This week, I had the chance to read a book that landed on the keeper list for when I need resources to share with hurting hearts. As you may remember, a couple of weeks ago, I shared about my little nephew (Kirk) who was stillborn 29 years ago. I mentioned that back then, people didn't talk about infant loss, and since his death was utterly unexpected, we scrambled to find books or other resources to help us navigate our pain.

There were so few options.

There are more now, but Loved Baby by Sarah Philpott, is the one I read this week and it's the one I'll be recommending and buying to share from now on when I learn of a friend who is walking through the loss of a baby.

I know this journey probably also describes a fair number of you who are reading. My heart breaks for you, whether you have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy, or young baby loss. Death always brings a rather unwelcome range of emotions, but trying to process the loss of such a young life seems to push those ranges to even higher heights and deeper depths. And that's where this book can help you.

Let me tell you about the book. It contains 31 devotions to help you through both the grieving process and the cherishing process. Yes, that's right! No matter how young that little one was when you had to say goodbye, he or she deserves to be cherished as a life that came to be part of your family, even if briefly.

Each devotion covers a different topic, and they include: searching for why this happened, navigating the hurtful (and often thoughtless) words of others, mourning, honoring your due date, handling the emotions that flood in with future pregnancies, and even learning to reconnect emotionally and sexually with your spouse after the loss.

Sarah writes from her own experience, but she also includes snippets of stories, thoughts, and advice from a host of other women who experienced their losses in various stages of pregnancy. The words within each chapter are soaked in compassion, not clinical at all, and are comforting, timely advice for mothers who grieve.

Though I have not experienced a pregnancy loss personally, I've walked with family and friends who have and can attest that the wisdom in this book is solid and needed. I also found much of it helpful for loss in general. I recognized pieces of my own grieving processes from completely different situations! Grief can have different details, but it has a universal core.

This book brings the hope of Heaven to hurting moms, reminding them that their dear, loved baby is cradled in the arms of God even now. And though that would not have been the story line they would have chosen, there is comfort in knowing that God cares for these sweet babies from the moment their souls leave this earth.

Each chapter ends with a nugget of soul work: something to process or an exercise to try as you heal. It also includes a brief prayer related to the topic of that chapter.

I wish this book had been written 29 years earlier, but I am so thankful it has been written now. It's a beautiful little gift book: hardcover with a ribbon bookmark, and would make a thoughtful gift to anyone going through loss.

I actually have an extra copy of this book that I'd love to give away to someone who either needs it for a personal healing journey or who has a friend or family member in the throes of this grief right now. If you'd like to be entered into a drawing to win, just leave a comment that says you're ready to begin the healing journey (or you want to bless someone in your life in her healing journey) and you will be in the drawing! If you comment anonymously, please tell me your name so I can know which anonymous is which!

Normally I only leave these giveaways open for a couple of days, but I'm going to leave this one open for a week. You have until 10 p.m. Eastern on Friday, October 6 to enter, and then I'll announce the winner on next week's Saturday Six! 

(I also have a huge passion for people grieving the loss of a child, so if that's you and you ever need to process out loud, I'm just an email away, and I'm a good listener!)

Thanks to the Blythe Daniel Agency for providing me with a complimentary copy of the book and an extra copy for the giveaway. All opinions are my own!