They say that small coffins are the heaviest. This experience led me to author my first book, Hope for a Grieving Heart, after going through the excruciating pain of child loss.
My name is Mercy. I’m Kenyan, a wife, and a mum.
I first discovered my love for writing in primary school when my compositions were often read in class. In university, when Facebook was new, I used to write notes and share them. Eventually, I started a blog. I always knew I was going to write a book; I just didn’t know what it would be about.
I’m a believer in Jesus Christ. I have loved God and lived for Him since I was a little girl, so the only thing I knew for certain was that I would write a Christian book one day, a book to bring people closer to Jesus.
In 2016, I got married. I had a beautiful wedding filled with love and laughter. Six months into the marriage, I discovered that I was pregnant. I was so excited, praising God for His goodness. I had the baby, a boy, in 2017. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly a few weeks after birth.
This event rocked my world. It shook my faith and everything I believed in… But God. It is true that God is close to the brokenhearted because He held me and was my firm foundation. In 2019, I had another baby boy. He is 5 years old now. His name is Manuel, meaning “God with us,” because God never left us during that season.
During COVID, in 2021, I had another boy. He passed away after a few days from neonatal pneumonia. My workplace was gracious enough to accord me my full maternity leave even though I did not have the baby with me. During this time, God spoke to me heavily through His word, and I journaled a lot. He then pressed it on my heart to write a book with all that I was learning during that season. At first, I was hesitant. Then, after a few confirmations, I wrote my first book, Hope for a Grieving Heart. The book is a 30-day devotional to encourage other women going through baby loss. I completed my manuscript within the four months I was home and shelved it.
I later shared it with my sister, who encouraged me not to shelve it. I also shared it with my friend, gospel singer Kambua, who had also lost a baby, and she told me how much it had encouraged her. This encouraged me to get an editor and get serious about publishing. Kambua ended up writing the foreword to the book.
Eventually, I released it last year, in 2023, during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
I received a huge response from so many women who had lost babies and had no one to talk to because society expects them to move on. They say, through me sharing my story, they felt seen and heard.
I then started a support group for these ladies in November last year. We are 70+ women so far. Apart from encouraging each other, I invite therapists and other mums who have gone through loss to support them.
Everyone who reads the book says it gives them hope. Interestingly, even those who have experienced different types of loss, like spousal loss, tell me that the book has helped them. I had never anticipated that, but I give all glory to God
At times, we never know why we go through certain things, but God in heaven knows and can use it for good, just as He did with Joseph in the Bible after all the suffering he went through. All we need to do is trust Him through the hills and valleys of life… and with the same comfort He gives us, we ought to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4).
