Amelia Grace
July 27th, 2010
There is a family at my parents’ church, Tim & Melissa Lorang and their toddler son Noah, for whom tomorrow—July 28, 2010—will be a day of great joy and greater sorrow. Their daughter Amelia Grace will be born via C-section, but Amelia has anencephaly. Anencephaly is a congenital defect in which the baby’s brain, skull, and scalp fail to develop properly, and it’s always fatal. When she is born, Amelia will be missing most of her brain, and likely the top of her skull and scalp. Amelia, like all babies born with this defect, will most likely die within a few hours of her birth.
Melissa is one of those people whose faith is so strong and who is so full of grace that it puts the rest of us to shame, if you know what I mean. She has been blogging about her pregnancy, her daughter, her grief, and her faith for the past few months. Tomorrow is the day they meet their sweet baby girl, and likely the day they will have to say good-bye to her.
Amelia Grace: her first name means “a work of the Lord.”
I don’t really know the Lorangs (Tim is about five years younger than I am, and his family didn’t start going to my parents’ church till I was almost graduated from high school) but I’ve been reading Melissa’s blog and praying for them. Tomorrow, I will be praying for them harder than ever as they grieve the loss of their daughter. If you are a person who prays, could you take a moment to say a prayer for them too?
UPDATE: Amelia Grace Lorang was born at 9:02am this morning, and passed away at 11:00am. RIP.
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I cannot imagine the pain of carrying a child knowing that you will only have a few precious hours together on earth…my heart and thoughts will be with the Lorangs tomorrow.
There is such comfort in resting with the Lord. I will be praying that God will comfort and hold this family close in his grasp. They must be special people for the Lord to give them an opportunity like this. This family has probably touched so many lives,,, more than they will ever know and more than they every could have before the birth and death of their little angel.
It’s so sad. She’s the 3rd baby in less than a year that we know of via the blog world born with that condition. I believe in God, I trust in His greatness but sometimes I question His sanity. And while sometimes I say that to be funny, other times I say because I truly do. Loving families, who need and want a baby face hurts like this, while other, perfect little children are born to people who don’t want or love them. It’s a good thing I know that trusting Him and bringing those who are in such great sorrow to him is the only way to survive.
Thank you for sharing them with us, we’ll be praying too!
I am sorry to hear what this family is going through and that this little angel will only be among us briefly for a few hours tomorrow. I will be praying for them. I hope they will find comfort in their faith and trust in God’s will.
Wow. Thanks for sharing that Bethany. I am completely amazed and humbled by Melissa’s faith; that is so incredible. I wish I could have such faith in the midst of my own difficult circumstances. I will pray for her, and I have passed on this post to friends from my church, so they can also pray, and be encouraged by Melissa’s faith.
That’s God for you…even in the midst of such sadness and pain, Amelia’s short life is having a profound affect as an inspiration to believers (and hopefully non-believers too). Her life isn’t lost, or wasted. God redeems all things for good.
I’ll be sure to pray for this family. This story is heart breaking.
Oh NO. I’ve heard of that condition before. Devastating. Will definitely remember them today.
Sending prayers for them right now.
I just got to read your blog and found this. Praying right now. Their faith is inspiring. God bless them all.