Audrey

During high school and a few years of college I volunteered at the local Christian radio station, and we got to help out with concerts that came to the area. I've met Third Day, Toby Mac, Point of Grace, and quite a few others. It was always the coolest thing. One of the nicest bands that I had the privilege to meet was Selah. They are composed of Todd Smith, his sister Nicol and Allan Hall. After Nicol married, she decided to go solo and released her own album, and Amy Perry joined the group. I never met Amy, but she sings absolutely beautifully. As do Todd and Allan.

I remember one of the times they came to town to a local church. It was a sold out crowd, and the radio station had to end up selling seats in the choir loft! Gives a whole new meaning of "preaching to the choir". Me and another volunteer were responsible for getting the food ready backstage, so we had gone to the store to get the fruit trays and stuff. When we got back and were setting it up, Todd walked in there and we all struck up a conversation. Nicol walked in there, and even though they were in a rush to eat and get on stage, they took the time to talk with us. I'll never forget it.

Being the baby-lover that I am, and also being the celebrity stalker that I am, I get sometimes daily emails from a site called Celebrity Baby Blog, which, as you have probably guessed, is all about celebrity babies. I love getting those emails! It's nice to see actors and actresses not playing a role other than mothers and fathers. A few weeks ago I got the email and was browsing through the post. One of the headlines was titled something along the lines of "Christian artist loses newborn daughter". Curious, I clicked on the story and was shocked to see that the article was about Todd and his wife Angie.

They already have twin girls who are 5, and a 2 year old, and were expecting their 4th daughter, Audrey Caroline. They had found out about halfway through the pregnancy that their daughter had severe problems that, in their own words, were "incompatible with life". They were told by the doctors that she would maybe survive 2 minutes. She lived for 2.5 hours after she was delivered by C-section. That's not just awesome. That's God awesome.

I didn't think much else after reading the post. I said a few prayers for the family and went on my way. About a week or so ago, I was reading my friend's blog and noticed a link on the side of it for a girl named Angie's blog. I clicked on it to see what it was, and at the same time asked my friend, who happened to be online, who's blog it was. She replied "that's Todd Smith's wife, the singer from Selah. They just lost a baby". My mouth dropped open as I remembered the whole story.

The blog is beautifully written. I can't imagine how she gets through some of the things she writes about. Audrey Caroline was so loved. Is so loved.

My best friend has 2 sisters who have both lost children. One lost her daughter a few months before she was born, and the other lost her son about 1 week or two before he was due. Now my best friend is halfway through her second pregnancy, and it scares me to death to know about her family history and what can happen. All I can do is trust God will do what He thinks is best.

If you get a chance, take a look at Angie's site. If you're like me, you'll be smiling through the tears at what God can do.