Episode 6 - Raising a Rainbow Baby to Remember Their Sibling in Heaven with Ashley Opliger
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In this episode, Ashley Opliger discusses how to raise Rainbow Babies (or older living children) to remember their sibling in Heaven. Through her experience of raising two boys on earth after the loss of her daughter, Ashley shares four practical ways you can help your living children honor their sibling in Heaven.
Ashley is joined by her four-year-old son, Branton, for a few minutes during this episode to demonstrate how to talk to a young child about God, Heaven, and their sibling in Heaven. This short episode is a sweet glimpse into Ashley's life mothering children on earth and in Heaven. If you have lost a baby and desire for your living children to know about them, this episode is for you.
In this episode, Ashley shares:
How to talk to your living children about their sibling in Heaven
Traditions you can do to honor your baby's place in your family
How to involve your living children in Celebrations of Life for your baby in Heaven such as a Heaven Day Birthday Party
Acts of Kindness you can do in memory of your baby in Heaven (plus a link to 50 ideas and a free personalized template card)
How Bridget's life has positively impacted her parenting
Why having a baby in Heaven has allowed them to share the Gospel in a very real and tangible way with their children on earth
Each episode has a special Hope Guide that you can download by clicking the button below. It is packed with hope-filled resources and extra information from the episode!
Discussion / Application Questions (leave your answers below in the comments!)
Ashley shares four ways to help your children on earth remember your baby in Heaven: Talking about Your Baby, Family Traditions, Celebrations of Life, and Acts of Kindness. Which one of these spoke to you the most and what idea can you implement in your family life moving forward?
In this episode, Ashley gave a glimpse into a conversation with her four-year-old son about God, Heaven, and his sister in Heaven. What stood out to you about this conversation? Is it easy or hard for you to have these conversations with your kids? If it's hard, identify what is making it difficult. Plan to have an age-appropriate conversation in the next week and write down how it goes.
Ashley talks about how Bridget's life allows her and her husband to share the Gospel with their kids in a more real and tangible way. In what ways have you seen this to be true in your life? Are there other opportunities you could use to share God's truth and hope with them?
Graphics to share on social media or pin on Pinterest!
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MEET OUR HOST
Ashley Opliger is the Executive Director of Bridget's Cradles, a nonprofit organization based in Wichita, Kansas that donates cradles to over 1,065 hospitals in all 50 states and comforts over 26,000 bereaved families a year.
Ashley is married to Matt and they have three children: Bridget (in Heaven), and two sons. She is a follower of Christ who desires to share the hope of Heaven with families grieving the loss of a baby.
Connect with Ashley:
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Pinterest /ashleyopliger
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Episode 6: Raising a Rainbow Baby to Remember Their Sibling in Heaven
Ashley Opliger: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Cradled in Hope Podcast where we believe that the hope of Heaven, through faith in Jesus Christ, has the power to heal our hearts after the loss of a baby. It’s a pain no mother should have to endure and we want this podcast to be a safe place for your broken heart to land. Here, we are going to trust God’s promise to restore our joy, use our grief for good, and allow us to spend eternity with our babies in Heaven.
I’m your host, Ashley Opliger. I’m a wife, mom, and follower of Christ clinging to the hope of Heaven. My daughter, Bridget, was stillborn at 24 weeks in my first pregnancy in 2014. In her memory, my husband and I started a nonprofit ministry called Bridget’s Cradles, and God has given us purpose in our pain and we’ve seen beauty come from ashes.
Although we wish you didn’t have a need to be listening to this podcast, we believe God has a reason for you to be here today. We pray this time would be a source of healing for you as we remember that Jesus cradles us in hope while He cradles our babies in Heaven. Though we may grieve, we do not grieve without hope. Welcome to the Cradled in Hope Podcast.
Ashley Opliger: [00:01:28] Hi, sweet friends. We are now on Episode Six and I pray that you have found hope and healing in the conversations we've had in the previous episodes. We have been so blessed to have such wonderful women come on the show and share their stories of heartbreak and hope. We have many more amazing conversations with special guests coming up, but for today's episode, I wanted to talk about a specific topic that is close to my heart.
As many of you know, I am a mom to three children, two sons on earth, and a daughter in Heaven. Bridget is our first child and her two younger brothers are my Rainbow Babies. I recently learned that August 22nd is National Rainbow Baby Day. And I was asked by laurelbox, a bereavement gift company that we partner with, to write a blog post about Rainbow Babies.
As with any writing opportunity I am given, I always pray and seek God about what it is He wants me to write about. After spending time in prayer and reflection, I knew He was asking me to write about my experience of raising my boys to remember their sister in Heaven. After I submitted the blog post, I also felt God was asking me to turn this message into a podcast episode and to expand on some of the discussion points, as well as talk more about the impact Bridget has made on our parenting and the blessings she has given to our family.
Later in this episode, I'm going to also welcome my four-year-old son, Branton, to show you an example of a normal conversation we have about his sister in Heaven. I am looking forward to sharing this part of my life with you, so let's get started.
Ashley Opliger: [00:03:08] When my husband and I got married in 2014, we never would have imagined that we would lose a baby and that the journey to growing our family would be filled with so much grief and heartache. Our first child, Bridget Faith, was stillborn at 24 weeks into my first pregnancy and our family has never been the same.
After we lost Bridget, my husband and I knew that if we were blessed to have living children in the future, we wanted to raise them to know about their big sister in Heaven. We missed her so much and we wanted her to be remembered in our family.
So fast forward six years, and we now have two little boys, a four-year-old and a six-month-old. And it's so important to us that our boys know that Bridget is their sister and that they have the opportunity to see her one day in Heaven, through faith in Jesus. Though they didn't get the chance to know her on earth and they don't have any memories of her, we still desire for them to remember her and live their lives honoring her as their sibling.
Though this certainly was not the story we would have chosen for our family, this is the story that God had chosen for us, and we believe that Bridget is part of our eternal family. Therefore, we strive to honor her memory in our home and family on earth. So based on our family experience, I'd like to share with you four ways you can help your Rainbow Baby or older living sibling or siblings to remember your baby in Heaven.
The first one is: Talk about your baby in Heaven. We talk about Bridget all the time in our family. She is brought up naturally in conversations and our day-to-day lives. When we read Bible stories or talk about Heaven, we acknowledge that Bridget is there. Our oldest son, Branton, asks a lot of questions about Heaven and he brings her up when he sees a pretty sunset (which I'll tell you a story about in just a little bit), if he sees a photo of her, or one of her memory keepsakes.
He understands that he was Mommy's second baby and that Bridget was born before him. Since he was little, we have told him, “Mommy had a baby, Bridget, in her tummy before you were born. And she went to be with Jesus in Heaven. And then a few years later, we prayed to God for another baby and God sent us you.”
So as you talk to your Rainbow Baby about their sibling, it's important to keep your conversations developmentally appropriate for their age. Keep it simple for babies and toddlers. And as they grow up, you can share more and more details with them, including photos, if you feel comfortable.
Today, I'm going to give you an example of what it's like to have a conversation with a Rainbow Child, I can't call him a baby anymore, about their sibling in Heaven. I'm excited to welcome my son, Branton, to the podcast. He was born in 2017, two and a half years after Bridget was born. Since he's four, I can't promise how this will go, but I hope that you can get a small glimpse into the conversations we have as a family.
Ashley Opliger: [00:06:02] Branton, I am so excited that you get to be on Mommy's podcast. I want to talk to you about your sissy in Heaven, Bridget. Can you tell me about her?
Branton Opliger: [00:06:13] Yeah.
Ashley Opliger: [00:06:014] Tell me about her.
Branton Opliger: [00:06:16] She’s so sweet in Heaven. I really like her. I love you so much.
Ashley Opliger: [00:06:020] Oh, that's so nice you're saying that to her. Can you tell me, where is Bridget at?
Branton Opliger: [00:02:28] She is at Heaven.
Ashley Opliger: [00:06:28] Can you tell me what Heaven is like?
Branton Opliger: [00:06:31] Heaven is like flowers are there.
Ashley Opliger: [00:06:36] What else is there?
Branton Opliger: [00:06:38] Bridget, God. What else is there?
Ashley Opliger: [00:06:44] Lots of beautiful things that God has created. Can you tell me, what do you think Bridget is doing in Heaven?
Branton Opliger: [00:06:52] She is hugging God.
Ashley Opliger: [00:06:53] Oh, she's hugging God. That's so sweet. I bet that's amazing.
Branton Opliger: [00:06:58] I want her.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:00] I know. I miss her too. Can you tell me about Jesus and who He is?
Branton Opliger: [00:07:07] I know Him.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:07] I know you know Him. Can you tell me, what did He do for us?
Branton Opliger: [00:07:15] He forgives our sins.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:15] And He died.
Branton Opliger: [00:07:16] Yeah, He died.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:18] How did He die?
Branton Opliger: [00:07:19] When the bad guys got Him to die because they didn't like Him.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:24] I know. And He died for our sins.
Branton Opliger: [00:07:28] Yeah.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:27] And will you tell me something else? Do you miss Bridget?
Branton Opliger: [00:07:31] Yeah.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:32] Will you see her again?
Branton Opliger: [00:07:34] Yes.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:35] What are you going to do when you see Bridget in Heaven?
Branton Opliger: [00:07:37] I'm going to give her a big hug and a kiss. Since she’s in our family I can give her a hug and kiss.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:45] That's right. Yeah, she will love getting a big hug and kiss from her little brother.
Branton Opliger: [00:07:50] I’ll give her tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons . I'll give her 120.
Ashley Opliger: [00:07:59] Oh, I bet Bridget would love 120 hugs and kisses. So Branton, tell me about Jesus in Heaven.
Branton Opliger: [00:08:08] Jesus in Heaven.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:08] Tell me about Him.
Branton Opliger: [00:08:09] God someday will turn earth into Heaven.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:08] You’re right.
Branton Opliger: [00:08:09] And sometimes He will turn the earth into Heaven.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:18] And we will live there forever, won’t we?
Branton Opliger: [00:08:21] Yeah, we’ll live there forever.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:22] How long is forever?
Branton Opliger: [00:08:23] Forever is every day, but I want to go to Heaven now.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:28] You want to go to Heaven now?
Branton Opliger: [00:08:32] Yeah, so I can see Bridget. But you would be sad.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:35] Well, I would be way too sad for you to go to Heaven right now.
Branton Opliger: [00:02:21] Well, I would see Bridget, but I’d never come back.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:44] Well, once we go to Heaven, we don't come back until Jesus comes back.
Branton Opliger: [00:08:48] When Jesus comes back we can go back to earth.
Ashley Opliger: [00:08:51] Mm-hmm, when He makes the New Earth and the New Heaven. So were you my first baby?
Branton Opliger: [00:08:56] No.