Eric Schumacher and Jessika Sanders are acquainted with grief and suffering. Eric and his wife have experienced five miscarriages, and Jessika has experienced a 37-day NICU stay, a PICU stay, and multiple medical emergencies with her son, Ezra.
Both Eric and Jessika are committed to caring for families through their roles in pastoral ministry with the Baptist Convention of Iowa and the nationwide nonprofit, Praying Through ministries. Together Schumacher and Sanders have co-authored In His Hands: Prayers for Your Child or Baby in a Medical Crisis (Good Book Company, 2024), a resource for families navigating the unimaginable.
In His Hands is a comprehensive book of prayers meant to give parents and extended family the words to pray when they’re paralyzed by the shock of their circumstances. The book is not meant to be read cover to cover but rather as an easily accessible tabbed and dog-eared resource for those in the throes of suffering. With a table of contents organized by themed topics such as: uncertainty, healing, spiritual darkness and doubt, readers are encouraged to turn to how they’re feeling. Each themed section or chapter contains a detailed table of contents to further direct the thoughts and prayers of readers.
As a comprehensive prayer resource, In His Hands provides prayers ranging in length and specificity. Readers can find general prayers for things like healing, fear, wisdom, and more specific prayers like for understanding employers, for leaving a child at the hospital, or for holding a stillborn baby. Each themed chapter begins with a child’s prayer that could be read over a child or read by a child himself. Chapters end with a responsive prayer that can be read by two or more individuals.
The prayers are steeped in Scripture and reflect the hope of the Gospel of Jesus, shining light into what is likely a very dark time. Schumacher and Sanders don’t shy away from complex circumstances; instead, they enter into them with refreshing and liberating prayers of lament.
While In His Hands is written specifically for those navigating a medical crisis of a child or baby, the simple modification of inserting the patient’s name makes many of the prayers easily translatable to a medical crisis of an individual at any age. An entire section of prayers is offered for the medical team. While these prayers give words for how families can pray for their medical team, prayers can be modified easily so members of the team can pray for themselves or one another.
Jessica Sanders founded and directs Praying Through ministries which encourages and shares hope with families facing infertility, childhood illness/hospitalization, and/or child loss.
Nurses Christian Fellowship promotes prayer! Deepen your prayer life, pray for nurses and students, and ask for prayer for yourself via the NCF website.
