Gentry and Hadley Eddings know God is a restorer. After losing two sons in a car crash, they recently welcomed twin boys into the world. And they can't stop thanking Jesus for their blessings!
Gentry, a pastor in Charlotte, North Carolina, and his wife, Hadley, are no strangers to tragedy. In 2015, a truck driver plowed into their vehicle. The accident killed their 2-year-old son, Dobbs, and sent Hadley, who was 37-weeks pregnant, into an emergency c-section. Sadly, their newborn son, Reed, only lived two days.
Faith And Forgiveness
Such crippling heartbreak is enough to test even the strongest faith. But even in their grief, Gentry and Hadley clung to what they knew to be true -- God is good.
"Hadley and Gentry are truly the strongest people I know, and it is beautiful to see them lean into each other and into Christ," Gentry’s sister Amber Justice said. "They are grieving, but grieving with hope – looking forward to the days when they will be reunited with their boys in heaven."
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Even after losing two sons, the couple knew they alone in the devastation caused by the crash. In an amazing display of Christ-like love, they publicly forgave the truck driver responsible for the accident as they laid their sons to rest
"Be willing to forgive others," Gentry later said, "that's been an important part of our healing is just to be able to forgive the driver that caused the accident."
The couple leaned on God to see them through. And while the two know the sharp pain of loss, they know the amazing power of God's restoration, too.
God The Restorer
The journey to healing from such intense heartache isn't an easy one. But over time, hope helped strengthen their hearts.
"I had missed being a mom from day one but around this summer I thought, we're getting to that point where it ok for me to be pregnant and I want to have more babies. And I don't want to continue to live this life without being a mom again," Hadley said.
But before Gentry and Hadley could have more children, they had to rely on their faith to help work through the complex emotions of losing two sons.
“It’s not betraying my children who are no longer here to have more children and that was the things we had to work through before we decided to try again,” Hadley said.
Soon, hope gave way to new life. Gentry and Hadley welcome twin baby boys!
Beauty From Ashes
“We praise Jesus for our third and fourth miracles: Isaiah Dobbs Eddings and Amos Reed Eddings. Two healthy and beautiful boys,” Gentry said in an Instagram post announcing the twins' arrival.
The couple chose to honor the sons they lost by using their names as the twins' middle names.
“We believe there is a lot of hope in our story and it reminds us God is a restorer,” Gentry said.
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Theirs is a story of extremes -- joy and grief, life and death, desperation and hope -- all mixed in together. It's precisely the type of mess that only God can make beautiful. And it's the gift He offers to all of us!
"For your shame you shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be to them." Isaiah 61:7
h/t: GodUpdates
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