Jamie Faith was born with an underdeveloped brain. During the course of her short life, her parents, Rachael and Reid Douglas, faced numerous crises. On New Year’s Eve of 2012, Jamie stopped breathing. Her mom and dad were forced to perform CPR and then rush her to the emergency room.
From that point on, her brain stopped telling her how to eat or breathe, and she continued to decline.
Four months later, when she was just 11 months old, the family said goodbye to their little girl.
The unimaginable grief that accompanied the loss of their child threatened to overwhelm Reid and Rachael. Marriages often don’t survive the weight of such pain as feelings of guilt and disbelief erode away years of love and acceptance.
She said that reading that book has helped her discover again who God really is. She had tears in her eyes as she was sharing this with me.
The fact that Rachael and Reid managed to go on with their lives is a testament to their faith in God.
As Christians they were determined not to let the tragedy of losing their daughter destroy their marriage. They also decided to be obedient to what they believed God was orchestrating through their daughter’s death.
A month before losing Jamie, Reid had been reading Josh McDowell’s book, More Than a Carpenter and knew within hours of Jamie’s passing that God wanted him to give a copy of the book to each person at her funeral.
Reid contacted Josh McDowell Ministry and asked if 600 books could be delivered the following day, in time for Jamie’s funeral.
The doors to the funeral home opened 30 minutes into the service, and those 600 books were delivered to the back of the chapel in time for Reid’s friends to hand out a book to each person in attendance.
Reports began to come in to Rachael and Reid from people who had read the book. Rachael’s friend, Jamie, had been struggling with her faith and was in a genuine crisis following the death of Jamie Faith.
Rachael says, “She had been saved since she was 14 but was not sure that she believed or trusted in Him anymore. Then a friend of mine told her about everything going on with Jamie Faith, and she said that was the last straw.
“She was done praying and did not even want to talk or hear about God. She said that she did not really want to come to Jamie's service, but she and her husband came anyway. She said that at the end of the service when the pastor mentioned the book, she felt like he was talking to her.
“She said that reading that book has helped her discover again who God really is. She had tears in her eyes as she was sharing this with me.”
Jamie Faith lived less than a year, but her legacy will last a lifetime. Her story continues to give hope to the hurting.
Reid and Rachel sensed God’s sovereign hand amidst their grief and surrendered to His plan. He used their pain as a platform to proclaim His name. How can you allow God to use your own difficult circumstances to point others to Him?
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