To those who care - testimony from Andrew and Hannah Wood
To those who care,
Thank you. We were expecting to announce the birth of our first child "John" Andrew Wood II sometime around February 23rd (his due date, the day before my birthday). As is a common theme in my life, God had a different plan. After not feeling John move for several hours on Saturday (the 13th), we rushed to the hospital. No heartbeat was found and it became quite clear that he had died that afternoon. A C-Section was done and the doctor could not find out what had caused his death. His cord was fine, the placenta was fine, and most of the pregnancy had been completely trouble free. Hannah and I were obviously crushed, and I was a wreck when the nurse brought baby John in for us to see and hold. The thing I had looked forward to the most was to see his face and now it was the thing that horrified me most. He looked so much like me. I couldn't help but think, "why him and not me?"
As Hannah and I are grieving, praying, and reading Scripture together here in the hospital we think about several things. "For from Him, through Him, and to Him are ALL THINGS, to Him be the glory forever, Amen" (Ro 11:36). You may hate to hear this, but God caused this event for His glory. He does all things perfectly. He is the sovereign potter, who has every right over the clay to do with it what He wants. As we saw this precious little child who seemingly had nothing wrong with him but a sin nature, we realized that God created him, formed him, and took him for His own good pleasure (Ep 1:11).
Did we have any rights to this child? Absolutely not. How dare we blame God with any injustice. Everything we have is a gift. What do we have that He did not give us? Another realization we have to remind ourselves regularly is that IF you are a genuine Christian, you cannot lose. EVERYTHING that happens in your life, including your own sin, God works together for your good (Ro 8:28).
We have been so encouraged by the examples of those in Scripture and friends of ours who have suffered incomparably more than we have. Their testimonies reveal a firm foundation built on Christ the solid rock. IF you know God, He will make you stand when trials come. If you don't know Him or don't believe He exists, beware, His flaming wrath is fierce and you will be consumed. Repent and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mk 1:15).
If your objection to God is something along the lines of: "How could a loving God do bad things to people?" you probably don't know His love and probably don't know people very well either. If you spend time reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation you'll find the God who is love within Himself - Father, Son, and Spirit, the God who loves to save sinners like you and me, but also the God who takes life and destroys those who reject Him (read Gn, Ex, Lev, Nu, Dt, Josh, Judg... etc.). The question is, will you bow before Him now willingly, calling Him Master and yourself servant, or will your knee caps be crushed and your mouth be forced to confess on the day of judgment, "Jesus Christ is Lord!"?
Those of you who are Christians, thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. We love you! We grieve, but not as those who don't have hope. Those who don't know Him and are not known by Him, we have much more concern for your soul than you could possibly have for us in this loss. Stop suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Start renouncing your sin, taking up your cross and following Jesus.
Through this experience, seeing our son's face, God has given us a greater understanding of how precious children are and He has given us a greater desire to have many children of our own. We are seeing more clearly that life is a vapor and we must cherish every moment. We are not guaranteed the next one, here on earth with those we love.
For our brothers and sisters, here are some specific areas in which you can pray for us: Our testimony here at the hospital - joy in the midst of suffering, proclaiming Christ through our pain. That we wouldn't listen to the lies of the enemy and feel false guilt over John's death. That we would rely on God's strength through the little things - the nursery set up at home, car seat in our car, etc. Pray for Hannah's physical healing from the C-Section. The journey ahead will difficult. Please pray for our families as well.
Our Dear Baby John
by Hannah Wood
He took delight in forming,
In wonderfully weaving you,
His hands touching each part,
Knitting you in my womb.
With joy we watched you grow,
Praising our gracious Lord.
We knew what a gift you were,
And our hearts praised Him even more.
His eyes were upon every detail,
Each tiny finger, each toe.
He gave you the eyes of your daddy,
Your momma’s mouth and nose.
It pleased Him to make your heart
Beat strong and caused you to move.
At times you seemed to leap with joy
And we prayed you were praising Him too.
Our earnest prayer had been
More than health or ease of days,
For your soul to be secure
Through a saving, miraculous faith.
The Lord, as He delighted to form you,
Also was pleased to take
You son, His own creation
For He’d already planned your days.
His Word says He wrote them down
In His book before any were.
So your life had been completed
Just hours before your birth.
Our tears, though kept in His bottle,
Are too numerous to count for man
As we grieve – oh how we miss you!
Lifting to God our empty hands.
But we’re seeing how God has answered
The many prayers we raised
When we asked Him to take and use you
For the glory of His great name.
For He’s chosen to take your life,
Though short like the grass of the field,
And use it to touch His people
Bringing about His eternal yield.
So though weeping, He’ll lift our face up
To rejoice and praise His name.
We will trust in His sovereign will
For He gives and takes away.