"19 Kids & Counting" stars Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar shared details of how they grieved the loss of their daughter, Jubilee Shalom, in a blog post published on Monday.
Jubilee was stillborn on December 11, 2011, five months into Michelle's pregnancy. The couple shared advice for dealing with grief and comforting others on the three-year anniversary of their daughter's passing.
"I think when someone's going through grief, and they've lost a loved one, the challenge for family members and close friends is they want to do something," Michelle said in a YouTube video.
"Sometimes... a mistake can happen, and you'll say things, and you'll think, 'Why did I say that? That was so not the best thing to say.'
"The best words that someone can say when another person is walking through grief is just to say, 'We love you, and we're here for you. We're praying for you.'"
Michelle added that in praying for someone, the Holy Spirit can comfort their heart in ways that no one else can.
The Duggar family chose to take photographs of baby Jubilee, and had a memorial service for their lost child. Michelle said that everyone grieves in their own way, and urged those in mourning to stay encouraged.
"God doesn't waste our sorrow," she insisted. "He will use it for good, and it will have a purpose in this life and in eternity."
Jim Bob said that although their grief was heavy, they still thanked God for his blessings and faithfulness.
"We didn't know what to do, but we knew that we should thank the Lord," he shared. "I was taught from an early age that we need to praise the Lord when things are going good, and praise the Lord even when things are not going well.
"And so we said, 'the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.'"
The father of 19 also explained how they came up with the name "Jubilee Shalom."
"Everybody was in sorrow, but we tried to reassure everybody that just like David in the Bible, who had lost a baby, he said: 'The child will not come back to this Earth, but one day we will go to see this baby in heaven,' [2 Samuel 12:23]. And that's our hope.
"We named this baby 'Jubilee Shalom,' and it's kind of like a joyful celebration of peace."
