Hug Him Once for Me

This video is for all parents who have said good-bye to a child - one they love and long for. However, one that you do not have to say good bye to forever!

If you want to see your child again, please visit:http://www.lancasterbaptist.org/truth-about-eternity.

Erica McClure is the author of this beautiful song! You can contact her at funshine1414@yahoo.com or phone 517-541-2411.

Two Hours to Heaven

In October 2009 Lisa won a contest where she was the 100,000th viewer of a blog Stop and Smell the People. His name is Mike Redding. He interviewed Lisa and she told the story of Curtis. Click here for his article on Lisa and Curtis.

Welcome New Viewers

Thank you for visiting our website! For those new to our site we have shared the entire story here on the blog in Chapters. We suggest you begin with Chapter 1. Click on the Blog Archive located to the right of the screen. Select January 31 and scroll to the bottom to find Chapter 1.

Chapter 39

Two weeks later on April 4th Curtis’s birthday we took the kids and baby Joshua to visit the graveside. What a blessed moment that was. We listened to a hymn together and thanked God for our new baby but also for the fact that we will be reunited with baby Curtis Smith Mast someday in heaven.

Chapter 37

When we arrived we were taken to a room and prepped for the induction. I was at the same hospital where Curtis was born but not in the same room. It was so redeeming to be there and happy about having a baby. Once the process began it went very quickly and within a few hours Joshua Franklin Mast was born! He came into the world at 8:24 PM weighing 7lbs. 7 oz. and 19 ½ inches long, he was my biggest baby! He was beautiful he was big and he was breathing and crying!!! “Thank you Jesus!” Joey and I held him and loved him and showed him off to our family and friends. “God is so good he’s so good to me!”

Later we realized something amazingly wonderful about this birthday. Curtis was born the Wednesday before Easter of 2007 and we buried him on that Good Friday. Now a year later Joshua was born the Wednesday before Easter and on that Good Friday we brought him home from the hospital!

Chapter 36

At my 38-week appointment I was so miserable and the baby was so low and heavy in my belly I felt like he would be born at any time. The nurse checked me and said that I was dilated to 4 centimeters already and that I could go into labor soon. I was thrilled to hear that!

The weekend passed and I was so miserable and unsure so I went to be checked that Monday. A different nurse checked me and said that I was really only 3 centimeters and was not in labor. This did not help my one bit. She told me to come back on Friday and they would schedule me for an induction. I was induced with my first two children and really liked that I could know when I was going to deliver and could make plans to have someone watch the kids while I was in the hospital.

Unfortunately the doctor who checked me that Friday said I was only at 2 centimeters. What! Was I closing back up? (Ladies, just a side note – make sure at the end of your pregnancy that you are checked by the same person each time) Still though she agreed that we should schedule an induction. I asked for Monday which was St Patrick’s day and my original due date. She said a nurse would call me and let me know by the end of the day. I waited and prayed about the timing of this birth but the nurse never called. I called back at the end of the day and the nurse said there was no opening until Wednesday.

So Wednesday morning finally came and I didn’t sleep at all. I couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep or eat or stand or sit I just wished my body would go into labor on its own. But I was at the mercy of the hospital and I was to call at 6am to see if there was a bed available, which I did. The person who answered the phone said “sorry we had too many women come in over night and there is no room. You will have to wait. We will call you when we can work you in.” I’m sure you can imagine how that felt. I was mad and sad and worried but mostly mad. I thought surely they don’t realize how important this baby is. If only they knew what we had been through.

I called back a little later on because I wasn’t sure if I could eat anything since you are not supposed to before an induction. I called and asked and told them to please know that previously I had lost a baby and if they could just keep that in mind and try to get me in. The lady was very kind and said she would personally call me as soon as she knew and that for sure they would get me in by midnight. By this point I just wanted to know when and midnight seemed so long from then.

My brother and sister-n-law (Jay and Caroline) were in town and hoping to be at the hospital to greet the new baby. I called my brother and told him what was going on. They came over to the house and I was so glad for any thing to distract me from the waiting. This was perfect timing because at 3:00 the lady from the hospital called and said, “come in.” I said, “could you repeat that I didn’t hear you?” She said “get your things and come now.” “Oh! Joey lets go and not give them a chance to change their minds.” And because Jay and Caroline were there we could leave the kids home and take off. We got to the hospital so quick I don’t even remember the ride there.

Chapter 35

I could now relate not only to the trials and sorrows Job had faced but now I could know the joys that he felt when God gave him back those things which he had lost. “…the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Job 1:21”

The pregnancy went really smoothly and I took advantage of every opportunity to share my joy with the kids and let them get excited about meeting their baby brother. I enjoyed the fact that my belly was growing normally as the baby did and this time I could feel the strong kicking of the baby. I could now do all the things that parents normally do when they are expecting. We could make plans and prepare the nursery and think of names.

The new due date was determined to be Sunday the 23rd of March which was Easter. When Curtis passed away just before Easter of 2007 I could never have guessed that exactly a year later I would be giving birth to a healthy baby boy.

The 34th and 35th weeks of pregnancy came and went and by now I was more than ready to hold this baby and not be pregnant anymore. By now my fears were starting to roll in like the dark clouds of a bad storm. Somebody told me of a lady who was expecting her 5th or 6th baby and the night before she was to deliver, the baby stopped moving, and its heart stopped and died inside her. Would my baby make it? Would he be strangled by his own umbilical cord and die before birth? Would I get to the hospital in time to deliver him safely? Oh why do people tell me these horrible stories just at the end of my pregnancy? And so I surrendered these new fears to God and prayed for peace. And you know what? God was gracious to comfort me and give me a strength of peace that only he can give.

Chapter 34

I sought to enjoy this pregnancy and not let fear steal it from me but this would surely be a hard fought battle. The next step would be to wait for the ultrasound (U/S) later in pregnancy that would show if the baby had developed properly without complications and that there was life sustaining amniotic fluid around the baby. They scheduled me an early U/S at 16 weeks into the pregnancy in early October. I would go to a specialist who could do a more advanced screening so they could see a more detailed picture of the baby’s organs.

I didn’t care if this was a girl or a boy I just wanted to be told that the baby was healthy and I knew that if that was the case I could really be relieved. I thought I wouldn’t sleep the night before I was all tied up in knots physically speaking. Yet I did and with a nervous stomach Joey, the kids, and Joey’s parents joined me for the exam.

Joey and I went in first and told them we would come get them later. The technician got started right away and I guess I looked pretty frightened because she told me not to worry this was a happy occasion…oh if only she knew the thoughts racing through my mind at that point. I worked up a grin and she turned the screen so we could see. Right there I saw a baby’s head and a little hand giving a thumbs up and the baby was surrounded by a black ring of fluid!!!!! “Click “she said “I’ve got that as a picture for you.” Wow, it was like God had placed the baby in that position to lift our spirits and say, “I’m okay!” She continued the exam and everything was perfect and functioning and measuring well. Whew! Then I thought now we let the kids and grands in to see. They knew right away by our smiling faces that finally we were going to have a new baby to enjoy soon.

By this point there was only one more thing to find out…was it a girl or a boy. The night before I had a really weird dream and I remember dreaming about a cake and the top of it was lined in blue icing and it said “It’s a Boy!” I thought wow no one will believe me if I really am having a boy. Ha ha and there on the screen the technician placed an arrow showing us right between the baby’s legs. There was no doubt we were going to have a healthy baby boy! God is so good to us! “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalms 100:5”

Chapter 33

Joey and I decided it would be good to go ahead and tell our families so that they could begin to pray for us. “…pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16.

Anxiously I went to that appointment with my kids JJ and Kayla. I told them they would get to hear the baby’s heartbeat. The nurse came in and began to search around my belly for the heartbeat and I was praying in my mind “pleas

e God let her find it right away.” But she just kept searching and said “well I can’t seem to detect it I will have the doctor come try…maybe you are not as far along as we thought.” Oh I was terrified now but tried to remain calm especially for the kid’s sake. Then after awhile the doctor came in and again my prayer in my mind “please God let her find it right away she must surely know exactly where to put the monitor.” She pressed firmly and listened but she could not find it either and she too thought maybe I was not as far along as thought. She said she would get me into ultrasound and that would surely show the heart beating.

And so I sat there with my kids and told them not to worry and that this way they could see the baby too. (This was really me trying to convince myself.) With shaky hands and trembling in my voice I called Joey who was at work and told him what was taking place. He prayed with me and I told him I would call him as soon as I knew anything.

We waited to be called back to ultrasound and yes it felt like hours. A young lady came in who had a kind face and gentle demeanor (thank you Lord) she said come with me lets take a look at this baby. I told her to please tell me as soon as she saw the heartbeat and explained to her what had happened to my last baby. She was very reassuring and kind. This was an internal ultrasound and I had never had one like this and this early in a pregnancy. I looked over at the screen and saw a little peanut shape. I strained my eyes looking for a little flickering heartbeat. The technician said immediately “oh see there’s that little heart beating and it’s strong too.”

Wow, I could breath again. I said out loud “praise you Jesus, thank you Jesus!” I invited the kids to come over and see this new little baby to our family. She gave me pictures to keep and with joy and relief I called to let Joey know.

Chapter 32

Right away I could sense a change. And after three babies I knew “that feeling” that I was once again with child. It would be a few more weeks until I could take a pregnancy test but I just knew. By mid-July I had a positive pregnancy test and an appointment scheduled at my Ob/Gyn for mid-August.

Of course I told Joey right away that I knew we were expecting again and we decided to wait to tell others as long as possible. I had heard from other women who said that after miscarriages or their loss of a baby that they knew and had a peace when that healthy pregnancy was taking place. I on the other hand had no such confidence. To me God had not guaranteed that I would have a heathly baby all I knew for sure was God’s promise to be with me.

At my doctors appointment I was to confirm the pregnancy and find out when I was due. The doctor thought I was there for my womanly checkup and was surprised to find out that I was expecting again so soon. She told me I was very brave. I was told that my due date was to be March the 17th, 2007, which was St. Patrick’s day. Oh I thought that should be easy to remember and so my next checkup would be at 11 weeks to hear the babies heartbeat.