Episode 09: Finding Hope & Butterflies in the Midst of Darkness with Minister Jess Lowry
This episode is my conversation with Jess Lowry, who’s the family minister at the church where I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Our stories collided when Jess showed up for me at the hospital the night Ellis was stillborn and ended up baptizing him. Since then, Jess and I’ve developed a deep friendship as she began to share her own story of pregnancy loss with me, which includes seven miscarriages, the stillbirth of her first rainbow baby Ava, and three more rainbow babies, including an adopted little girl.Jess’ story is full of tenacity and vulnerability and she tells difficult details that she’s never shared publicly in hopes that it will help those of you out there who are hurting to feel less alone in your pain. Jess talks about hitting rock bottom after struggling with infertility and miscarriage and finding herself on the brink of divorce and also attempting suicide.Jess’ story is so powerful to me because it would be easy for an outsider to assume that she has a “perfect” life, which we all know doesn’t really exist, but instead Jess reveals that her life has actually been shaped in surprising ways by the dark and heavy parts of her path that most of us prefer to hide.Jess continues to be an inspiration to me and has helped me to better understand how God continues to be present with me through the darkness of pregnancy loss and grief. I hope her story is a guiding light for you as well.—To connect with me visit taylorashleybates.com and find me on Instagram @taylorashleybatesAnd please share this podcast with anyone you know who is walking through life after pregnancy loss whether they are trying to conceive, currently pregnant, or parenting after loss.