New Ornament, New Name

I've been looking for an ornament for my second baby in heaven and I finally found one:

I like it because the snowflake reminds me that God makes each person unique regardless of how long they live or how big they grow. I can't wait to meet this special person someday.

I also decided on a name. Selah. The meaning is ambiguous, but I like the common understanding, "Pause and consider". In my baby fever, my second loss caused me to pause and consider all the LORD has done for me and even though I am in pain, to conclude He is good. I found a second meaning: literally "to hang" which implies weighing -translated in Job 28:19, "valued". I like both meanings together. Selah reminds me that my baby has weight in this world and eternal weight in the next. He/she touched my life by bringing me closer to the heart of God who loves us both.

Here is Shalem's ornament:

I found this back in September. It completed the memory box I made for Shalem and I intend to keep it there year round when it's not on the tree. It reminds me that God is using my pain for something beautiful. I am humbled to see the beauty unfolding in unexpected ways. I already mentioned in another post that Shalem means "complete, safe, unharmed, peaceful, perfect, whole, full, at peace with God". Shalem reminds me both my babies are safe.


I love having these ornaments on the tree. I didn't want Shalem's ornament up without Selah's; it was too painful at first anyway. The concept of Christmas after loss took some getting used to, but now I see that Christmas is about celebrating the One who came to "bind up the broken hearted." (Isaiah 61:1) I'm so thankful for all the ways I have to honor and remember my babies. I'm thankful for their short, beautiful lives.