"Hope" Merwin...home with the Lord.

My wonderful friends, Mitch and Lisa Merwin, sent me a very profound and saddening e-mail this morning. Lisa was expecting their second child, whom they planned to name "Hope."

A couple of weeks ago, Mitch informed all of us (their friends and family) that the doctors had found some "complications" with their yet-unborn daughter. Some very serious complications.

We have all been praying like crazy, asking the Lord to heal this child. And God has indeed healed this precious "Hope." He did it HIS way.

I received the following email from Mitch, Lisa, and their small son Micah, earlier today:

Dear friends, Thank you so much for standing by us and praying for us. We cannot express how much it means to us knowing that we have so many close friends who care for us so deeply.

Today, we had a routine check up. We discovered that our baby had no heart tone. Today our baby would have been 23 weeks. It's a bitter/sweet reality. Bitter, because the excitement of meeting this baby has ended before it ever began. Sweet, because our little baby will not have to suffer and is now with Jesus, the great physician.

We will deliver the baby sometime Friday morning. We really appreciate your continued prayers as we know this will be a difficult time. Our little baby is a girl, and we've decided to name her Hope.

We chose this name because of a passage that has comforted us during this difficult season of life. Romans 5:3-5"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us."

In the midst of such grief, we were able to cling to the Lord knowing that He has a plan, which is producing perseverance, character, and hope in our lives. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to grieve and mourn the loss of our baby girl.

Mitch, Lisa and Micah Merwin.

Please keep praying for my precious friends, the Merwins. These wonderful Christ-followers are very much "family" to me. My heart is grieving now.