When you're expecting a baby, you imagine all the beautiful moments ahead. The first smile. The first steps. A lifetime of memories. You don't imagine sitting in an ultrasound room hearing the words, "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat."
That's what happened to Jackie Nave.
In an instant, her world shifted. What should have been a joyful appointment became the worst day of her life. And yet, in the months and year that followed, Jackie discovered something profound about God's character—something that would sustain her through unimaginable grief and carry her into unexpected hope.
The Hardest Day
Jackie's pregnancy had seemed normal. No warning signs. No reason to suspect anything was wrong. But when the doctor delivered the news that her baby, Bowden, had no heartbeat, everything changed.
"It was the worst day of our lives," Jackie reflects. "Something we didn't know, didn't expect."
In those first hours after losing Bowden, Jackie found herself in a familiar place—not knowing what to pray, not knowing what to say. But her church community was there. Friends sent her Bible verses throughout the night. And as she read Scripture, something shifted. God gave her strength—not the strength to understand, but the strength to endure. The strength to deliver Bowden. The strength to carry her family through their shared grief.
Finding Beauty in Sorrow
What strikes you when you listen to Jackie talk about Bowden is the tenderness in her voice. She doesn't shy away from the loss. She leans into it.
"Bowden was fearfully and wonderfully made," she says. "He was so beautiful and so perfect and absolutely made in God's image."
Even in grief, Jackie saw her son's inherent worth. He mattered. His life—though brief—had meaning. And that realization became foundational to what God was about to teach her.
When Fear Returns
Losing a child changes you. It reshapes how you see the world, how you hold your loved ones, how you imagine the future. When Jackie became pregnant again, fear came with it.
This time, the pregnancy felt like walking through a minefield of anxiety. Every symptom was a question. Every moment of stillness was a potential crisis. The grief of losing Bowden didn't just disappear—it hung over the new pregnancy like a shadow.
But here's where Jackie's story takes a turn that only faith can explain.
"That sorrow and valley gave me the confidence to know whatever comes next, God is still good," she says. "This is the same God that carried me through grieving Bowden. This is the same God that will carry me if we also have to grieve Sophie."
Let that sink in for a moment. Jackie had been broken. And yet, from that brokenness, she found unshakeable confidence in God's goodness.
The Gracious Hand of God
The Lord was gracious. Sophie was born healthy—welcomed into the world in March, about five weeks before Jackie shared this testimony.
But Jackie doesn't present Sophie's arrival as a tidy ending to her story. She doesn't say, "And then everything was fine." Instead, she speaks about her daughter as a gift. As grace. As evidence of God's protection and faithfulness, even when outcomes remain uncertain.
"This was my least complicated pregnancy," she says. "But it was probably the scariest one in terms of everything we were facing. The Lord is gracious. He protected my body and little Sophie's life."
What Grief Teaches You About Motherhood
One of the most striking aspects of Jackie's testimony is how loss has reframed her perspective on motherhood itself.
"True healing only happens from God," she explains. "He is the only one who can really pick up the broken pieces and he is near to the brokenhearted."
This isn't just theology for Jackie—it's become her lived reality. And it's changed how she mothers.
"It's given me a perspective on motherhood that I know it's fleeting," she reflects. "I know how precious it is. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to be a mom on this side of heaven to these three babies and teach them about Jesus."
Jackie's grief didn't steal her joy. It deepened it. It reminded her that every moment with her children is a gift. That motherhood—whether it lasts a lifetime or a single ultrasound—is sacred. And that the most important thing she can do is point her children toward Jesus.
A Purpose Born From Pain
Perhaps the most beautiful part of Jackie's story is how she's transformed her pain into purpose.
"It's given me a purpose to really teach my children about Jesus's love," she says. "And I'm thankful for that opportunity."
She carries Bowden with her—not in the way that keeps her stuck in grief, but in the way that gives her mission clarity. Every moment with her living children is an opportunity to tell them about Jesus. Every conversation about faith is colored by the knowledge that one of her babies is already worshiping Him in heaven.
"I want to worship Jesus in heaven with Bowden one day," she says. "That's what I feel like really gives me purpose."
God Is Near
If you've experienced loss, you know that the words people offer in those first moments often fall flat. "Everything happens for a reason." "God needed another angel." "You can have another baby."
Jackie's testimony doesn't minimize that pain with platitudes. Instead, it points to something deeper and more enduring: God is near to the brokenhearted.
That's not a promise that grief will disappear. It's a promise that you won't walk through it alone. That even when you don't know what to pray, God is there. That even when the valley seems endless, God is faithful.
And sometimes—in ways we can't control or predict—He carries us through to the other side.
If you're grieving today, know that your pain matters. Your loss is real. And God is near to you in ways you might not yet see. Reach out to your church community. Let others carry you. And trust that the God who was faithful to Jackie is faithful to you as well.
Psalm 34:18 — "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."