Baby Reed is with Jesus

My heart is broken into a million pieces for the Putman family tonight. His caringbridge page has not been updated yet, but I was told earlier tonight that Reed passed away around 6 PM tonight. I know God was glorified all throughout his 2 months of life. His parent's strong faith impacted many people by showing how the Lord can work through the trials in our lives if we glorify Him through it all. The Lord knew exactly how many days Reed had on this earth, just as He knew the same for Tori, and just as He knows for you and I. Still, on this night, I know their hearts are broken; his parents, grandparents and extended family members as well. I ask you to pray for them all tonight and in the days ahead.

I can only think back to the morning Tori passed away. It was a snowy, cold morning in Nashville and I remember how beautiful it was outside, but it was the complete opposite inside. I remember her taking her last breath right in my arms and the gut wrenching, heart breaking pain I felt. I know Tina feels this same way as a mother tonight. I don't know the arrangements or what they will do next, but I do ask you as my blog readers to reach out and encourage this family by simply leaving them a note on their caringbridge page if nothing else. In the days ahead, as they deal with the grief they will feel as they wake up to their son no longer being at the hospital to visit, their lives will never be the same to say the least. Losing your child is the worst pain ever I truly believe!!!

Another side note...PLEASE pray for Tina and Jonathan's marriage in the days to come. They are strong Christians, I know, but losing a child and dealing with grief takes a toll on your marriage. I'm just being honest and transparent with you....You both grieve differently and you never want to begin blaming each other or pushing each other away through the hardest thing a young married couple can ever endure...Satan tries to use things like the death of a child to break up marriages. I never understood until after losing Tori of why they told us 75% of couples divorce after losing a child. I thought "that number is entirely too high." Neither person knows how they are going to react or what the pain that grief brings you will do to you. Right after Tori died, it drew Josh and I closer, we were able to be there for each other during the hardest time in our lives. But after you make all the arrangements, have the visitation, go through the funeral and graveside service, take care of things days after it all, you are left with this numbness in your body and you don't know where to start first. I remember thinking, "Okay, what now??" It all sinks in and you're never prepared with what you'll do after losing a child. NO ONE is prepared to grieve a loved one until you're actually doing it. There's not a class you take to prepare you for it, but the only hope for me was knowing Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. He truly gave me a peace beyond anything I could have comprehended....even on the really bad days that I STILL have, nearly a year later.

All that to say that they WILL need prayer for their marriage in the upcoming days and that their hearts will be comforted, their faith will be strengthened, their joy restored and their marriage to stand strong through it all. I pray that they never blame God or pull away from Him. It is so easy to do. I pray that He gives them that same peace that I know only He can give. It is such a sweet, sweet peace and can only come from Him. Nothing else on this earth will be able to fill that void.

Thank you for listening, family and friends, and for praying for this sweet family. I have no doubt that God had a plan for Reed's life and his conception, birth, and 2 months of life on this earth were not a coincidence. Conception in itself is a miracle and the fact that he was ever formed together by God in his mother's womb says so much (Psalm 139:13). God had a plan for him even then (just as He does for each of us--Jer. 29:11)!!