Renewed Hope After a Miscarriage with Julia and Ryan Sadler

Renewed hope. Whether we are going through a physical ailment, financial crisis or just having a hard day, it is a universal message and one that Julia and Ryan Sadler are very familiar with. After facing the heartbreak of three miscarriages, the Sadlers needed hope. Exhausted physically and feeling the emotional and physical drain of what they refer to as spiritual warfare, they not only survived, but feel compelled to share their story with others who might be facing, or are already in the midst of similar experiences. Risen interviewed the Sadlers in 2018 and talked about facing three miscarriages in one year and how their faith got them through it.

Julia Sadler opens up about how she was able to get through facing three miscarriages in one year.

“When we just had one miscarriage, I mean I was sad, but I had a lot of friends tell me it’s kind of normal. And so, while it was sad, we weren’t completely hopeless at that point. But after three, we started realizing something more was going on. And I think the best way to put it is when we realized we were fighting a spiritual battle it gave us the right weapons to fight with. We stopped looking at it as totally a biological problem, or whatever you want to call it, or medical problem, because every single miscarriage was coinciding with something major happening in our student ministry…The first miscarriage happened when I had one hundred girls in my backyard and was teaching them that they had a purpose for their lives, and the last miscarriage happened while I was at a women’s conference speaking on why God allows suffering. Those things were just so strategically planned it seemed like once [we] started looking at it form a spiritual perspective, a spiritual warfare perspective, it kind of gave us a renewed vigor to fight with.”

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them! Psalm 139:13-17

Ryan Sadler reflects on how he supported his wife during her miscarriages.

“it was definitely a hard time for our family that was for sure unexpected. We had been married for seven years at that point and kind of naively thought we had everything figured out. We’re just kind of coating along and thought this was the time to start a family. We had some educational career goals that we wanted to finish first and then we were going to start on this journey. Then we had that very first miscarriage and like Julia was saying, it was pretty normal. After the second one, we started realizing there may be something going on here that may be a little bit more serious, and with the spiritual warfare added in there and everything, we realized this is a little bit more serious than we thought it was going to be. It was a little bit harder on Julia, obviously, because it was happening to her. For me, as the husband, I had to kind of realize I’ve got to come alongside my wife; I’ve got to help her and encourage her and support her. We [realized] we’ve got to be able to run towards God rather than away from Him, because God is obviously doing something here. We had to remember that God’s timing is perfect, and even though it was extremely hard at the time, just knowing right now, that we’re called to minister. I realize that even in the midst of suffering, we can still have a thriving relationship with God. For Julia, being the woman of God that she is, was able to battle through, because again, she was at speaking engagements, she was writing blogs, doing all kinds of stuff during this and using this experience to encourage other people, which obviously wasn’t the easiest thing but she did it. God had a purpose for it.”

Risen Reflections

Support someone going through a miscarriage or loss of a loved one. It could be making a meal for them offering to help with their other children or a household chore. Pray and ask God to show you ways that you can come alongside and help them. Often when people are experiencing grief and trauma, it can be difficult to express what they might need. If you have someone that has gone through something similar ask what was helpful to them. Then check with the person to make sure they are okay receiving this type of help.

Be willing to sit and listen. When someone is going through a traumatic experience, be willing to just sit and listen. Often times they just need someone to give them a hug and pray with them. They might want to go talk to a pastor or counselor, offer to go with them. Again, just be there to support them and help them process what they are going through.

Recognize the battle. We are in a spiritual battle. The enemy wants to take out families and marriages because they are the foundation for the Christian community. Pray against the schemes of the enemy. Ask God to give you eyes to see the spiritual warfare going around you. Don’t forget to put on the full armor of God by praying and reading God’s word.

To read our entire interview with Julia and Ryan Sadler, click here.