Samara Joy

Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

My sister Kim and her husband Chad lost their baby this week. They were due to have their 5th child (2nd daughter) in less than two weeks, but apparently God had other plans. This awful news was discovered on Tuesday and after a very, very long 24 hours or so, Kim delivered on Wednesday, December 5, 2007.

Late Wednesday night (Jerusalem time) we talked with Kim on the phone from the hospital shortly after the baby was born. Samara Joy Zwyghuizen was born around 4pm EST Wednesday. She was 6 lbs 14 ounces, with lots of black, curly hair. Kim said she was beautiful, and looked just like their other daughter Mikayla did when she was born. My Mom and Dad went to the hospital, as did my brother Corey and his wife Sara. Meanwhile, Chad left the hospital to go tell his four other kids the heart wrenching news. Dallas, Justin, Mikayla, and Sawyer had been anxiously waiting for their new baby sister all day. They knew mom was in the hospital having the baby, but the kids didn't know what we already knew...new baby sister wasn't coming home. They all went to hospital together to see her and took turns holding her. Stacie and I desperately wished we could be there.

The cause of death was the umbilical cord wrapped around her in three places. Kim remembered the baby moving around on Sunday, it all happened so fast. And how is it that the very thing God created to sustain a baby’s life, the umbilical cord, brought death?

I have wrestled with things like this all week. It just doesn’t make sense…to me. To us. This baby will never learn to crawl, or walk, read or write. She won’t sing in a middle school choir, nor know the joy of being asked to dance with a boy. But we are confident of this… she joined a choir that is better than any middle school choir in the world; and there is no doubt that Samara is better dancer than I. Jesus has already given her some good lessons.

So while the King of the Universe has called this little child to Himself, He also knows it’s not easy for those of us who feel the heart wrenching pain of this loss. Jesus said,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Please pray for our family as we keep trying to “come to Jesus” during such a time as this.



God is good. Chad and Kim picked the baby’s name shortly after they became pregnant.

The name Samara means "under God's rule."

We know He sits on the throne, and what He does is good.
We know she is with Him.