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I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance Of Grief And Joy (2010)

by Angie Smith(Favorite Author)

4.39 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

080546428X (ISBN13: 9780805464283)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

B&H Books

review 1: I first heard Angie and Todd tell their story a few years ago on a radio broadcast. Their story really touched me, and I bought the book and started reading. However, the subject matter is not easy, and I didn't make it very far into the book that time.I started reading it again because a friend of mine, someone I have known my entire life, found out a few weeks ago that her unborn child was going to die. After an initial diagnosis that there was no chance he could survive, to a possibility for hope and some experimental medical procedures, they now expect that he will not survive the week and are preparing to say goodbye, all before he is even born. I recommended this book to her, and felt that I should reread it and finally finish it. I really admire Todd and Angie, and ... moremy friend and her husband, for the grace with which they handled and are handling this awful situation. I can't even imagine what I would do, and I pray I will never find out. No parent wants to outlive their child, and to have that child be an infant must be devastating. My son is nine months old and I don't want to imagine my life without him.If you have experienced the loss of a child, or know someone who has, I highly recommend this book. I have read some criticism that it's overly melodramatic, that the author seems to think that everyone she meets automatically bursts into tears. I didn't think it was overly melodramatic - it's a horrible situation and the people you are close to and who care about you will be sad for you. There are no words and sometimes all we have to offer are tears.It is a very religious book, because that's who Angie is and that's the purpose of this book. I appreciated her openness and honesty about her struggles and her doubts, along with her sure faith, as I have struggled with my own doubts over the years. She assures that it is ok to be angry with God as long as we continue to praise and trust Him, and that life doesn't always make sense, but He knows what we need and will always be there for us.
review 2: I Will Carry You is mostly about Angie's story of carrying her baby to full term after being told at 18 weeks that her baby was "not compatible with life". Oh yes, it's a tear jerker in the worst way! But at the same time, it is a beautiful, simply beautiful, walk of faith and growth and trust with the Father. None of us really want to walk through such trials, but God is certainly glorified when we trustingly allow Him to carry us through them. I am inspired, and I think equipped, when others share how God has brought them through the tough times.Along with her personal experience, Angie sprinkles reflections from the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11. Her insight blessed me more than once. My favorite (and perhaps the most convicting) observation she shared addressed how we pray in times of crisis. Our tendency is to tell the Lord what we want Him to do. Angie contrasted this tendency with examples from the Word: "What Mary and Martha say in their message to Jesus is not as interesting to me as what they don't say. They don't refer to Lazarus by name, nor do they ask Him to heal their brother. While we can infer that they were conveying a need for help, they don't actually ask Him to do anything specific. . .(like Mary "They have no wine"). They state the problem and wait to see what He will do about it. . .not the way I approach the Lord with a crisis. I run to Him with a laundry list of suitable responses and beg Him to accommodate me" (24).Their daughter, Audrey, lived for about two hours after her birth. "Right before (their) eyes, she passed from this world to the next, and all she had ever known was love" (87)."I believe that everything that happens in our lives, however awful, is an opportunity to bring glory to Jesus. . .All of us will have times of crisis. The most we can do is put our hands on the stone (a reference to believing obedience from Mary and Martha's experience when Lazarus died) and accept what happens next with the grace that says circumstances will define neither God's love for us nor our love for God. . .Instead of spending your days focusing on your sense of hurt or loss, allow the Lord to bless you with the grace to believe that what lies ahead will glorify Him. It is the closest thing to true worship that we have in this life, and so often we miss it. I miss it. It's time to press our full weight into the stone, having complete faith that whether or not there is life in the tomb, there is breath in our lungs to tell of the great Savior who loves us more than we can know" (119). less

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