I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy Paperback – Illustrated, May 1, 2010

My friend (whose cousin is the author) gave me this book to read after my youngest was born stillborn. It brought great encouragement and helped me in a very lonely time to read about others who have gone through the grief of losing a child. She does a good job of telling her story while encouraging the reader to know and trust in the Lord, the creator and one who cares for all those he has made. I bought the book so I could have my own copy. It has been a great blessing.

I found Angie's website not long after I lost a much desired little boy in the second trimester of pregnancy. Weeks prior to hearing the news that there was no longer a heartbeat, we had had an ultrasound scan go from excited and chatty to ominously quiet and soberly being informed we would need the radiologist to come in to assess the situation. We found out I had low amniotic fluid and unless the situation reversed our child would not be able to develop lungs properly and would not survive. We also were advised to terminate, but opted to let God decide what would unfold for our baby. We did not know how it would all turn out, but through our tears, it was also a time of sweet closeness with God.When I found Angie's website and saw her family's profoundly poignant journey with Baby Audrey, I was touched. I related to many aspects, and was so often moved and inspired by her faith and wisdom and her eloquent writings. I knew she was planning to write a book about Audrey Caroline and then we moved abroad and I lost track of her blog and forgot about the book.A few weeks ago, I found myself remembering Angie's book and looked it up on Amazon. I immediately placed my order and eagerly awaited its arrival. When I opened my copy of the book, I was riveted and could not put it down. Her insights and wisdom and verse selections and honesty and the tender telling of her story were all profoundly moving to me!I would imagine that this book could touch anyone dealing with loss or difficult circumstances. I know for me it was so powerful because of our loss of that little boy we never held. I think her truths and insights extend to all difficult situations and trusting God even when life hurts.Along with her story, she has at the end of her book some very special and helpful chapters. There is one about helping children through loss of a sibling, one written by her husband which gives some of his perspective, and a very helpful and tender chapter about loving a friend or family member through a loss like this one.If you have lost a little one, at any stage, I think this is a remarkably healing book. I went through a lot of kleenex and my body shook with sobs at times. I also went through a lot of highlighter ink as I noted so many powerful thoughts and encouragements and truths.Thank you Angie Smith for sharing your heart and your experience so openly and so tenderly and so lovingly and so prayerfully. It was a blessing and a privilege to read your book.I see that she has another book and very much look forward to reading it as well.

I discovered Audrey's story when I lost my daughter, Dakota. For the past few months, I have been mainly interested in reading books written by people who went through the loss of a child. As soon as I began reading, I couldn't stop. Audrey's story touched me. I absolutely love the Bible references within this book and the Faith written within the words. As I was reading this, I have to say that Angie opened my eyes to different aspects of our loss.I was very touched spiritually while reading this book. I believe now that God had a purpose for Dakota and used her to bring me closer to him for a life plan he has for me. I believe his plan for me is to help others who are going through the same thing I did. As I read Audrey's story, it helped to to reflect back on my own written story of my angel baby. I couldn't believe how similar they were but yet, they were so different. I am one of those parents who was thrown into the grief and I didn't have the time to prepare myself or my daughter. This book has helped me form the words I needed to answer some of the questions my daughter has asked. Angie has made me realize that it is okay to say, "I don't know" and not feel like I was letting her down.I couldn't help but comparing I Will Carry You with my own published book, Saying Goodbye Without Saying Hello. I felt like another side of the story was being told. I want to say that this book will help those who are lost after they have experienced the heartbreaking event of child-loss and it'll help those who haven't gone through it to understand.I believe there is so much more to this story and it's a message to those who question their own Faith. I must say that after reading this, I picked up my Bible for the first time in months and began reading it. So, a HUGE thank you goes out to Angie Smith for sharing her story.