With one in four pregnancies ending in miscarriage, Jane Clamp has written a beautiful 30-day devotional that captures a very important and difficult experience with grace and wisdom. She has had four miscarriages herself and is well-placed to take the reader on a personal journey like a friend at this most painful time.
Each day, Jane shares a thought rooted from her own experience. It’s as if each page is a warm embrace and a gentle hug. There is a chance to respond in each chapter, for example with a prayer or a practical task to help the reader on their own individual and personal journey. This is followed by a space to write any personal reflections. Jane writes with sensitivity, compassion, raw honesty and emotion and she does not shy away from the reality of losing a child.
Although I have not personally experienced a miscarriage, I know of friends who have and this book has helped me to understand the thoughts, emotions and feelings that can accompany such a traumatic time. I know that if I ever do experience a miscarriage, this is a book that I will cling to. When miscarriage happens, as with a lot of suffering, I can imagine myself questioning God. That is why Jane’s book is necessary – to come alongside those who are hurting as one who understands that pain and practically demonstrate the love of God at this dark time.
At the end of the book, Jane includes a liturgy for saying goodbye to a lost child which is a touching and powerful way to conclude the book. She provides suggestions on how to go about saying goodbye before sharing the liturgy which also incorporates a poem and the Lord’s prayer.
Despite being a devotional to help someone who has experienced a miscarriage, I personally found heaps of wisdom which could apply to other aspects of suffering, trials and pain that we can experience in life. This book is truly a comfort in times of struggle and I feel that Jane has really been able to live out 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 as she comforts others through her words:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
You can purchase Too Soon from Amazon or SPCK Publishing.
Jane Clamp is an interior designer with a heart for restoration which is also reflected in her writing and speaking ministry.
Having experienced four successive miscarriages between 1993 and 1995, Jane knows only too well the issues facing the woman who has had a pregnancy loss. Over the years, she has drawn alongside women going through its trauma and they have found her support invaluable. Research led her to realise that there was very little by way of printed resources, and she believes Too Soon will fill an important gap in the market.
Her background as a writer has been mostly in the realm of radio broadcast. She is Creative Writer in Residence on the Sunday Breakfast Show of BBC Radio Norfolk, and on the Thought for the Day team at Premier Radio. She has had several years of presenting Thought of the Day for a local community radio station. For five years she was a regular contributor to an online daily Bible commentary.
She is on the committee of the Association of Christian Writers and produces a monthly blog for them. She also blogs personally. www.janeclamp.com
An Anchored Hope 
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