Some things are easy to forget: sunglasses, bill payments, dentist appointments. I seem to have a mental block against remembering where I parked, and usually, spend a couple minutes wandering around the lot until I stumble across my car.
We don’t forget people we love. Aside from the effects of old age or illness, we retain memories of family and friends because they matter to us much more than our possessions or to-do lists.
Mothers don’t forget their children, even if they knew them but briefly in the womb. Though it may feel like God forgot us as He allows miscarriage and loss, His memory far surpasses our own. In fact, He loves us like a mother loves her child.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16
As God remembers and cares for us, so we can also remember and cherish our babies gone before us to heaven.
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day invites the rest of the world, or at least our communities, into our reality, grieving the losses and celebrating the lives that are meaningful and valued. People observe the day with special ceremonies or vigils marking the Wave of Light.
Families and friends can honor these babies through different creative expressions, mementos, or rituals. A few ideas include:
Stillbirthday Hearts Release: contribute your baby’s name to be handwritten onto small, recyclable paper hearts with seeds that will be scattered and grow into wildflowers.
Plant a tree or plant to watch it grow and remember your baby.
Get a tattoo with your baby’s name.
Paint a vase and place fresh flowers every year on your baby’s due date and Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.
For a group: Put babies’ names on stepping stones and place in a church or community garden or walkway.
Make a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child or give an annual donation to another children’s charity.
Buy a commemorative ornament, piece of jewelry, art print, or other handmade items, especially from vendors such as Dear Mushka, Bottle of Tears and Lullaby of Hope who serve the infant loss community.
Send a special gift to someone that is specifically curated for them during their journey.
We are engraved on the palms of God’s hands.
As His children, we can honor Him and the life He created by remembering the babies forever etched in our hearts.
Jenn Hesse - Content Developer - Jenn@waitinginhopeinfertility.com
Jenn Hesse is a writer/content developer at Waiting in Hope Ministries and leads a local infertility and infant loss support group called Graceful Wait, in the Northwest. She and has a passion for equipping women to know Christ through His Word. When she’s not teasing her husband or chasing after her two sons, she writes at her blog, jenhesse.com.
