GETTING TO KNOW: ANGIE SMITH Age: 33 Lives in: Nashville Husband: Todd Smith, vocalist for Selah The “sacred dance of joy and grief” is an apt descriptor not only of the realizations surrounding the death of her daughter, Audrey, and the emotional aftermath, but author Angie Smith realizes it’s a metaphor everyone can relate to. The unexpected line resonates from Smith’s striking book, I Will Carry You, a journey through a mother’s personal confusion, grief and loss. CCM: You describe that grief as a dance and I love that analogy. Have you found others attaching themselves to that analogy? Angie: Thank you. I’m sure I’m not the fi rst to have made that analogy, but I do fi nd that it resonates as a description of what people feel when going through trials like this. It came from a section in my book that talked about attending the baby shower of a dear friend a few days after we received Audrey’s diagnosis. She was also expecting a baby girl, and when we bowed as a group to pray for her, I heard all of the women just crying because here we were praying for the health of one girl and recognizing the fact that another stomach held one that wouldn’t need all the baby bottles and blankets. I thought to myself at that time, 'Joy and grief have no right to dance together like this.' My editor thought that sentence stood out as a description of the whole time period so we made it the subtitle. CCM: What's the hope for you going forward for this particular project? Angie: My hope is that people will see the heart I have for the Lord and that seeing the journey I have been on will make them curious about Jesus. It wasn’t easy to write this book and the Lord knows my heart. He was with me while I cried in the corner of a coffee shop and He continued to lift my head and press on. I have to believe it is because He sees the glory He will get from it and I’m resting in the hope that He has given me. I am blessed beyond words to be a part of this little girl’s life and I can’t wait to tell her that face-to-face one day. — Matt Conner For more information, check out www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com. Well Educated: Angie holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Vanderbilt University. Other Children: Abby and Ellie (twins, age 7), Kate (age 4) 50 CCM