When you lose your baby to stillbirth or miscarriage, it feels like the ground has fallen out from underneath you. Speaking from experience, Jackie Gibson reaches out, offering the only balm that will bring comfort to your pain.
Grieving the loss of a child to stillbirth can be a lonely and agonizing experience. Sadly, this overwhelming loss is far more common than one may think, affecting around 1 in 160 births. Gibson honestly acknowledges the sorrow, the loneliness, and fears that come from suffering the loss of a child while pointing to the gospel with gentleness and understanding.
You Are Still a Mother weaves Scripture and deep truths about God with Jackie’s personal experience to provide a book that is both honest and full of hope. Acknowledging that all who suffer this loss will never be the same, she reassures readers that God will be present through every moment of every day.
You are Still a Mother by Jackie Gibson tells the story of loss and heartache in The Moon Is Always Round from her unique perspective as a mom.
AUTHOR
Jackie Gibson, MA, is from Sydney, Australia but currently resides near Philadelphia, PA. She is married to Jonny, and they have four children. She serves alongside her husband at Westminster Theological Seminary and is grateful to be able to be home with her two youngest kids. If she had a day off, she’d probably try to find the nearest beach, her favorite place this side of heaven. Jackie is the author of You Are Still a Mother.
“This beautiful book captures both the profound devastation of losing a child through stillbirth or miscarriage, as well as the profound hope in God that is available in the midst of loss. It is a terrible thing to go through a pregnancy with all its anticipation and then to have empty arms. This book provides caring companionship and hope for healing for those who face this complicated grief.”
Nancy Guthrie, Author of Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow
“This is the story of Jackie Gibson and of Leila, her beloved stillborn daughter. It is heartrendingly honest but also profound. And the hands that composed these sentences while drenched in tears also carry keys that open doors of hope. While written especially for Jackie Gibson’s sisters in sorrow, You Are Still a Mother is a gift to the whole church.”
Sinclair Ferguson, Preaching Associate, Trinity Church, Aberdeen; author of The Whole Christ
“In You Are Still a Mother, Jackie Gibson gently connects the grieving heart of a mother-to-be and the sympathizing heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. This beautiful little book ministered to my wife and me and we will be using it to minister to others. Thank you, Jackie.”
Dane Ortlund, Senior Pastor, Naperville Presbyterian Church; author of Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
“The pain a mother experiences is like none other. It is the personal pain of loss, the pain for the little one you loved before meeting them, and the loss of a relationship before you’ve ever had the chance to enjoy it. Jackie has taken her heartbreak and has used it to bring words of consolation and life to those in need. Be deeply comforted by her reminder that the Lord is good, even in the midst of suffering. He will sustain you.”
Julie Lowe, Christian Counselor, CCEF; author of Safeguards
“Losing a child is a peculiar grief. All griefs have their own way of breaking our souls, but to lose a child that you never met stays with you your whole life. As Jackie Gibson says, you go from the womb to the tomb, from life with all its promise to death with all its grief. And like Jesus’s scars, the grief lingers. But like all things Christian, when we do them by faith, a peculiar resurrection is born in our hearts, because, Jesus is at work in all our deaths. The apostle Paul calls it a ‘fellowship of his suffering.’ Let Jackie guide you into that fellowship. This book is for everyone, not just those of us who’ve lost a child, because we all need to let our customized suffering draw us into Christ. We need that every day.”
Paul Miller, Author of J-curve, A Praying Life, and A Praying Church
“You Are Still a Mother is not a book for only mothers suffering the loss of an infant; it is for all Christians, both men and women. In this beautiful book, Jackie exposes and remedies the uninformed lack of reverence for our God-given bodies that we can sometimes display at birth and death. I am now eighty years old, and Jackie’s practical wisdom (learned through suffering) has deepened my understanding of the ways of God and has provided me with daily solace. This is a book to be read, reread, dog-eared, and read again!”
Barbara Hughes, Author of Disciplines of a Godly Woman
“Deeply personal and richly biblical, Jackie Gibson’s book guides bereaved mothers to the Father of mercies, the Father of Christ. This is not a book about getting past grief, however. It is about walking with God by faith, even while empty arms ache for a missing child, and living in hope of glory.”
Joel Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI
“This lovely book is proof that things beautiful can grow from sorrows unspeakable. Jackie Gibson has found a way of lending her story of loss to others lost in darkness and overcome with grief in a way that shines light on the path ahead. In communion with others who have suffered in similar ways, with raw honesty but gentleness, with grace and elegant prose, she charts a journey of learning not to understand but to trust the One who does and who will never leave your side. These pages will be a balm to many, whatever your unique heartache, and they will point you to the goodness and love of God in a profoundly moving way. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!”
David Gibson, Minister, Trinity Church, Aberdeen; author of The Lord of Psalm 23
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Camille Cates
Eliza Huie and Esther Smith
Jonathan Gibson
Elizabeth W.D. Groves
Barbara Miller Juliani
Joni and Friends
Stephanie Green
Leslie Vernick
Lauren Whitman
In this heartfelt and honest book, Jackie Gibson reaches out to mothers who have lost a child due to stillbirth or miscarriage, and shares the comfort and love of God who is with them in their pain, and shares the story of the stillbirth of her daughter Leila. Each brief chapter brings a truth about God to the fore, in light of such loss. These include: cling to God’s truths, turn to Jesus, God is sovereign, the child is precious and safe in the arms of Jesus, and suffering makes us groan for our home in heaven. She also addresses other aspects of loss: you are still a mother, for motherhood begins at conception, and the pain and grief will change, but be aware of symptoms of trauma and stress. Gibson has carefully worded each short chapter to represent gospel truths with compassion and care. It is aimed at Christians, and could be read soon after a grief, or later.
The experience of miscarriage or stillbirth is more common than you expected. However, this experience is like a taboo in church or family. The mothers who suffer from miscarriage or stillbirth do not know where to seek help. Therefore, Jackie’s book “You Are Still a Mother” is a blessing for us. How do we keep believing in God when there seems no light? I really appreciate what she says, “My friend's text with Deuteronomy 33:27 encouraged me to keep believing in the darkness what I had seen in the light, even when-especially when-it didn't feel true. God's arms were underneath me every moment of every dark day. His arms held me. They will hold you too.”(13) Also, she shares that the sufferers need a person who can be a companion of them. And then she points to Christ,Emmanuel-God with us.
This book is well written on a tough subject. The content helps you lean into your Creator, which I feel most grieving mom have heard on repeat lately. But the refreshing part of this book is the change of perspective it gave me to focus on the purpose my baby still has even though they are in heaven. It was a good read for a difficult season. I'm grateful I was recommended it.
