Tiny casket

It was the smallest casket I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even realize it was the casket until someone pointed it out to me. This evening, Mark and I attended calling hours at a funeral home for a family who lost a 3 week old baby who was born 12 weeks premature. His twin is still living and doing well, but his brother just couldn’t overcome the challenges that coming so early brought to him. I visited the babies in the hospital the week before they lost one of them- they were so tiny that their father’s wedding ring slipped easily onto one of their wrists.  The surviving twin has improved significantly since his brother died.  The nurses told his parents that frequently, when one twin dies who has been struggling, the other suddenly improves.
Tonight, I wanted to tell them how much I was praying for them and how sorry I was, and as always at these kinds of things, I am incapacitated by my inability to control my emotions. It’s so frustrating. They, however, were doing remarkably well. I’m sure there have been, and will be many moments when they will not be doing well at all, but right now God is giving them strength to get through the task of burying their child.

Say a prayer for Andy & Emma.