TO HAVE BUT NOT TO HOLD A True Story of Finding Hope and God's Compassion When a Baby Dies

In this compelling true story of the loss of a full-term baby at birth the author shares her emotional pain of experiencing extreme grief. The reader is taken on an engaging journey through the heartbreak, pain, guilt, and anguish of grief, but soon discovers what the author ultimately discovers: recovery through hope found in God's compassion and the comfort she receives from many friends. The story includes vignettes of other women who also have experienced the loss of their baby, as well as an exposition of pertinent Biblical passages dealing with grief and God's comfort. This book is a must read for anyone who has experienced the loss of a child. It is the ideal gift to give someone who is struggling through the emotional pain of grief and suffering. Excerpts from the book: "I could not believe a baby, who looked so perfect and whole, could be so gone from me... forever." "The play unfolded before our eyes, it was for our benefit, and its production Hand was God Himself. It was as though He were showing us that the pain and grief we were experiencing had only one equal: His love... and it did not stop pouring out on us." "We spiritually threw ourselves into His loving arms. We had to look beyond human kindness and love. Then we could see that it was our God in heaven holding us near Him in our sorrow and suffering." Linda Sustrick Schafran teaches elementary school in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, where she resides with her husband, Phil. Originally from Lincoln Park, Michigan, she has lived in Dallas, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. She and her husband have three grown children and two grandchildren. Contact her at: elife@live.ca