How are parents meant to believe that the loss of a child is all part of God’s plan?
Grief is a difficult journey for everyone, but it can feel especially challenging when it’s accompanied by a feeling of losing yourself or your faith. My guest today, Emily Ann Adams, had this exact experience after the passing of one of her twin boys, Aidan.
Faced with three little children under 5 to look after, including Aidan’s brother Alan who was born at 32 weeks, Emily made a courageous decision; to dive deep into her grief to understand it better.
In the process, she helped dozens of other families navigate their own grief through her incredibly moving book: Is There No Other Way?: Exploring Growth Through Grief.
This episode is vulnerable, raw, inspirational and serves as a reminder that our faith is something we can choose every day. Emily’s advice reminds us of the power of connecting with others while respecting that everyone experiences grief differently.
Key Takeaways with Emily Ann Adams
- Grieving the loss of a baby during pregnancy
- Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome
- Navigating the loss of a child, especially a twin
- Losing your faith through the loss of a child
- Learning from the pain and choosing to believe in a reason
- The importance of respecting others and their choices
- Finding connection through shared experiences
- Establishing time limits to talk about grief
- Using journaling and writing as a healing tool
- How to rediscover hope while healing
- Change the lenses through which we view our experiences
- Finding gratitude in the lives we have
- Finding utility in pain and turning it into a tool
Emily Ann Adams Tweetables
- “I don’t think faith is ever something you have or you don’t: it’s a daily choice.” — Emily Ann Adams
- “People are more than their behavior.” — Emily Ann Adams
- “Because I now had experienced an element of true grief in life, people felt free to share their own grief. It’s the worst club you could ever unwillingly belong to, but it’s also a sacred space.” — Emily Ann Adams
- “When we go through hard things, we think that something has gone wrong. That is oftentimes another layer to our grief: it’s not just the event itself, it’s the lens through which we look at the challenge.” — Emily Ann Adams
- “It’s not that the hard things bring joy, it’s the meaning we choose to find from these experiences and how that can invite joy into our lives.” — Jamie Freedlund
- “The more we can show up and love and respect each other throughout our differences, the more value and beauty there is.” — Jamie Freedlund
Resources
- Emily Ann Adams Website
- Follow Emily Ann Adams on Instagram or Facebook
- Loss for Littles: A Guide for Christian Families Dealing with Death
- Is There No Other Way? Exploring Growth Through Grief by Emily Ann Adams
- Facebook Group: Mormon Moms of Missing Multiples
- TTTS (Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome)
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
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