I Will Carry You

I Will Carry You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxZhEcTzn6Q (This link has lyrics with images set to the song .)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2CnUtVY35o (This link is tougher to watch - Todd and Angie Smith lost their little girl to another condition that was "incompatible with life." Todd is in the Christian band "Selah" and produced the song in honor of Audrey Caroline; this video is a slideshow that a friend created for them with images of their family before, during, and after the birth of their daughter.)


There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this

People say that I am brave but I'm not
Truth is I'm barely hanging on
But there's a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this

So I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One Who's chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says...

I've shown her photographs of time beginning
Walked her through the parted seas
Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes
Who could love her like this

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All your life
And I will praise the One Who's chosen Me
To carry you


I think this song is probably going to be sort of an intro for a number of posts to come.  As I said above with the YouTube links, it's by a group called "Selah" and one of their members, Todd Smith, lost a daughter named Audrey Caroline shortly after her birth to another condition that is "not compatible with life."  It is a beautiful song and theirs is a beautiful story.

Todd's wife, Angie, actually kept a blog throughout her pregnancy and since.  She also wrote a book entitled I Will Carry You that details her pregnancy and her walk with God throughout.  It is a wonderful book and when I'm done reading it a second time, I'm planning to pass it on so that someone else can feel the comfort I've felt from her words.  (You can find her blog at http://angiesmithonline.com/ if you are interested.) 

The book was actually sent to me by my friend Ruth; in my eyes, it was one of those situations where God puts someone into our lives but it may take years before we know why.  Ruth and I met in college, but hadn't really stayed in touch (other than reading statuses on Facebook). Shortly after our diagnosis, she wrote me to let us know that she was praying for us and wanted to share Angie's book with us since she had recently read it.

Not only was I touched by her offer, I was struck by the ways in which Angie's book spoke to me.  There have been so many times that I've been reading and just stopped to think "Wow - that was exactly what I needed to read today." Or "Huh...that is exactly how I've been feeling." Her faith in God is an inspiration and I hope that one of these days, I can approach this all with the faith that she lives daily. 

I plan to do a few more specific entries on passages that were especially meaningful to me, but for now I just wanted to share their story and Audrey's beautiful song.