July 25, 2025 • 32 mins
In this deeply moving episode of Unrelated Sisters: Truth & Grace Conversation, Shannon joined by special guest Haley, the founder of Hud’s Heart, a non-profit serving families walking through congenital heart defects and unimaginable infant loss.
Haley’s story is one of heartbreak, hope, and unwavering faith in the goodness of God—even when life breaks your heart. As she shares the “why” behind Hud’s Heart, you’ll hear how God turned pain into purpose, and how His faithfulness became her anchor in the storm.
Whether you’ve experienced loss, walked with someone who has, or just need a reminder that God is close to the brokenhearted, this episode will stir your soul and remind you—He is still faithful.
📖 Psalm 34:18 — “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
📍 Learn more about Hud’s Heart:https://hudsheart.com/
📩 Prayer request or testimony? Message us or email: unrelatedsisterspodcast@gmail.com
We want this to be truly interactive podcast. Please go in the fan mail at
https://unrelatedsisterspodcast.buzzsprout.com and tell us your stories and let us know if it’s okay to share (no names). Let us know if you need prayer or how we can support you in your journey. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. Follow us on Facebook @Unrelated Sister's: Truth & Grace Conversation Podcast or Email us at unrelatedsisterspodcast@gmail.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Amen.
(00:00):
Amen.
(00:27):
My God is Faithful We're honoredto welcome a dear sister in
Christ and powerhouse ofpurpose, Haley.
(00:49):
Haley is the founder of Hud'sHeart, a ministry born from both
heartbreak and God's deepfaithfulness.
She's here today to share herstory, her why and how God meets
us in our deepest pain with thekind of love that holds us
together.
What is faithfulness?
Let's anchor this conversationin scripture.
(01:10):
Second Thessalonians three,three says, but the Lord is
faithful and he will strengthenyou and protect you from the
evil ones.
Faithfulness doesn't meansteadiness, loyalty or truth.
And God's faithfulness is mostpowerful in its most fragile
moments.
(01:31):
It's good.
Haley, thank you for being heretoday.
Uh, You can start by whateveryou feel led to tell us.
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Well, first of all, I'm honored to be on your
podcast, and I couldn't wait toshare our story after you asked
me.
I guess I will start from thebeginning of our story, really.
In 2021, I was pregnant with ourthird child, Hudson.
I worked in labor and delivery,so I have a medical background.
(02:02):
I went to my regular checkup forour 20 like our anatomy scan at
20 weeks and they found acongenital heart defect that
doesn't come from either of ourfamilies and so we were kind of
lost on you know what that lookslike for us after we got
(02:23):
multiple opinions from medicalprofessionals here there and
everywhere We decided that wehad to get to Choa to be able to
give our son Hudson the bestoption as far as like what would
be next for him.
We knew that he was a very sicklittle boy and that ultimately
(02:46):
it was probably one of thehardest points of my life
because I've always had faith inGod.
I've always trusted him and hisfaithfulness, but this was
something beyond my control.
which is really hard when youlike to take the reins a lot.
Yes.
So I feel like the Lord reallyhad to do a work in me and just
teaching me like, hey, you haveto trust me.
And so after we got all of theoptions and they laid it all out
(03:11):
for us, I mean, they gave usevery option under the sun,
starting with abortion at 23weeks.
We quickly were like, no, no.
That is not what we believe.
I know that God has a purposefor this baby and whatever that
looks like, that's what we'regoing to do.
And so we ultimately went withthe stage surgeries.
(03:33):
So we knew that he would havethree stages of surgeries.
And so the first one would be onthe day he was born, which was
really hard because he was ourthird child and we had never
even had a NICU baby before.
So for us to give birth and thenimmediately hand our baby, our
(03:54):
newborn, over to a team ofsurgeons for them to save his
life was really hard for us.
It was super challenging.
And so we really had to find ourdeep root and our faith through
that.
So my entire pregnancy, I feltlike the Lord was preparing me
for something, but also it wasin the middle of COVID, so...
(04:15):
My husband, who doesn't comefrom a medical background, he
was kind of in the dark on a lotof things.
He couldn't go to any of theappointments, inside any of the
appointments with me.
Wow.
Yeah.
It was disheartening.
So he kind of didn't have anyclue of how sick Hudson was.
(04:36):
And he kept saying, well, I justbelieve he's going to be healed.
And He didn't really want totalk about it.
We are very strong in our faith.
We raise our kids in church.
Now, we are both on staff at ourchurch.
We are very deeply rooted in ourrelationship with the Lord.
I guess that he just didn'trealize just how serious that
(05:01):
Hudson's condition was.
Ultimately, Hudson was born.
He was the most beautiful baby.
They immediately intubated him.
They flew him to Choa.
So I didn't deliver at thehospital that I worked at.
So that was really sad too,because I wasn't with my people
(05:22):
that were familiar.
I had to choose another OBGYN.
So it wasn't with the peoplethat I am familiar with.
So when Hudson was born, theyflew him to Choa.
He had immediately had openheart surgery at four hours old.
And I was at a completely otherhospital.
(05:43):
So my husband had to go be withhim.
So he left me right after aC-section.
That was also really hard.
And that's when we had to trustGod the most.
I remember just as soon as theypulled him from my belly, I
remember just praying out loudand just crying over him.
And so Joey left, and he went tobe with Hudson.
(06:05):
And then...
Hudson did good through thenight, and then the next day, I
had already spoken to my OBGYN.
I was ready to get discharged,and then I got word from
Hudson's nurse that he wasn'tdoing the best.
They were kind of battling someblood pressure issues with him.
(06:26):
And so as soon as we werepulling out of the hospital
parking lot for me to go to Choato see him, really for the first
time because I didn't really getto see him when they pulled him
from me.
they called and said that he hadcoded.
And so they were doingeverything that they could to
work on him.
They got him back.
They placed him on ECMO.
(06:47):
So he was on ECMO for four days,which is a really long time to
be on ECMO when you're thatsick.
So
SPEAKER_01 (06:53):
for us that don't have a medical background, what
is ECMO?
So
SPEAKER_00 (06:58):
ECMO is like a heart and lung machine.
So basically it pumps all of theblood out of the body,
oxygenates it, and then puts itback in the body.
So they put you on that.
to give your heart and lungs alittle bit of rest, and that's
what he needed at the time.
For us, it was absolutelydevastating to see his chest be
(07:18):
open.
This is our newborn baby that welove so much and we have prayed
so hard for, and he's got all ofthese wires and tubes coming out
of him.
And I just remember just saying,like, Lord, I don't know what
you're going to do, but I knowit's going to be big.
Another thing is that we're likesuper private with all of our
(07:39):
things.
Like we don't, I just am not anovershare unless you're just in
my tight circle.
And so I remember before HUD wasborn, I was driving to work one
day right after his diagnosisand the Lord said, I want you to
share this story.
And I was like, Lord, are youserious?
Like I grew up Baptist and Iknow what people are going to
(07:59):
say about me.
Who is sinning in your house?
We know that, That's not thetruth, but...
That's just how I was raised.
SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
We talk a lot about the early Baptist churches being
raised in hellfire andbrimstone, not able to come back
from backsliding.
We talk about a lot of that onthis podcast.
It's
SPEAKER_00 (08:23):
okay.
I really wrestled with the Lord.
You want me to do what?
You want me to tell my story onsocial media?
I wasn't so sure about it.
Finally, He's like, no, I needyou to do this and so I made a
private or I guess it was publica little Facebook group and so
(08:46):
people could keep up with ourupdates and things like that
sent us encouragement andbecause we had no idea there was
nowhere that we could go and saywhat do we do how do we handle
this there was there's no localresources or there was no local
resources close to us that youknow we could that could help
(09:06):
us, guide or direct us.
It was just us and the Lord.
And so I created the Facebookgroup.
So on the day that Hudson wasborn, we probably had three or
four thousand people praying.
It was really crazy.
And so just over the course ofhis life, I mean, people that I
(09:29):
didn't even know, they wouldshare and they would be praying
and they would say, I have himon this prayer list and, you
know, just people that we didn'teven know.
So it was really incredible whatthe Lord did through that.
So it was really an up and downroller coaster for 13 days.
I mean, he would get better andwe would think we were one step
(09:51):
closer to coming home.
And then he would have a coupleof setbacks.
And then ultimately, I rememberon the 13th day, they came in
and they told me that he had apretty significant brain bleed.
And I remember the neurologist,she says, do you know what this
means for your child?
And I said, you know, no, Idon't.
And She had already kind ofrubbed me wrong, and I had
(10:15):
already had to step up a coupleof times and say, I understand
from a medical terminology whatyou're saying to me, but my
faith is bigger than what you'retelling me.
And so they already kind of knewthat's where I stood, and I was
very strong in that.
You're not going to tell me thatI have to pull all the wires or
(10:35):
anything like that because we'renot to that point yet.
Um, and so the neurologist toldme on day 13, she said, you
know, your son has a verysignificant brain bleed.
And I said, you know, she says,do you know what that means?
And I say, no, I don't know whatthat means, but I know the one
who does.
And so she tried to, you know,tell me that Hudson will never
(10:55):
be normal.
Well, I don't care if he'snormal, you know, like it's not,
this is, this baby was born fora purpose.
And like, I know that the Lordhas a plan.
Um, and so, He was going intolike a small surgery.
And so I had to leave the room.
And then I was only gone maybe45 minutes when they called me
(11:17):
that he wasn't doing well.
So I told my husband, I said,this is it.
Like, we're going to lose him.
And so my husband was like,you're crazy.
He's going to be fine.
HUD passed away.
And through that, Even being themost broken that I have ever
been in my life, I just knewthat the Lord had a plan and
(11:41):
that He was going to see usthrough this.
I didn't know what it lookedlike, but I just knew that He
was going to be faithful to usand that He was going to give us
back everything that we hadlost.
And so, I mean, we were broken.
We had to...
go home and plan a funeral andall of these things that we had
(12:04):
never planned to do and it wasjust absolutely devastating to
just I just remember sittingthere and just holding him and
just thanking God for the timethat we had with him but also
being a little a little bitterbecause I'm thinking like the
future like I'll never get toplan his birthday or things like
(12:25):
that and so that was that wasthe hardest part um But we all
know that some of the mostbeautiful things are birthed out
of tragedy.
SPEAKER_01 (12:36):
They are.
SPEAKER_00 (12:37):
And so, um, about three months after Hudson went
to heaven, we, uh, we do acorporate fast every year for
our church.
And so we were doing the fastand my husband was very angry
because like I said before, likehe didn't really realize how
serious the HUDS condition wasuntil after he was born.
(12:58):
Um, And so we were on the fast,and I remember just praying,
like, Lord, if I have to livewith this pain, this brokenness,
like, help me use it for yourgood.
And Romans 8.28 has been, like,my life verse for as long as I
can remember.
Like, in all things, God worksfor the good of those who love
(13:19):
him according to his purpose.
And so I was just praying, like,Lord, just help me use this for
your glory, right?
And so I felt like the Lord waslike, I want you to start a
nonprofit.
And I'm like, okay, but like,what does that look like?
Like, what does that look like,Lord?
(13:39):
And so I kept worrying about itfor a couple of days.
And about maybe a week into thefast, I approached my husband
and I said, the Lord wants me tostart a nonprofit.
And he wants us to do this forheart families and for families
who face loss.
And he's like, Haley, I don'tthink I can.
And he's like, I'm not ready foranything like that.
(14:01):
And I said, well, you just prayabout it for a couple of days
and you just let me know how,you know, how you feel.
If you feel like the Lord isspeaking to you.
He came right back and I mean,it was probably a day later and
he says, I think you're right.
We're supposed to start anonprofit.
Um, so we started doing researchon how to do that.
Um, and we formed HUD's heart.
(14:23):
So HUD's heart, um, We givemultiple times a year to CHOA,
to the people who are inpatientthere receiving care, because
when you have a cardiac baby,when you have a baby with any
type of heart condition, it'svery limited when they will be
(14:43):
in and out of the hospital, andyou never really know how
they're going to respond, thingslike that.
We knew that right off the batthat HUD would be there for
eight to ten months.
I mean, he was going to be therethrough the first surgery and
the second surgery.
And so we both had full-timejobs and two other kids.
And so one of the things that wealways battled was how are we
(15:06):
going to do this?
And so being able to donate tothe hospital to just make the
load a little lighter isdefinitely one of the things
that we love to do.
We also put together carepackages for local hospitals.
heart families who get a newdiagnosis or who are going in
for a surgery or anything likethat.
(15:27):
Um, we are, uh, very open withthat.
And so anytime that anybodywith, I mean, we've even
serviced people in likeKentucky, Alabama.
So I say local, but like, wereally don't discriminate if you
come to us and it's a need, likewe're gonna fulfill it.
(15:48):
Um, but we have, been blessed tobe able to service people
straight from our community,which is like the biggest
blessing to me, I think, becauselike I can be able to love on
them and, and just show them thelove of Jesus and just be a
light in a very dark moment forthem.
Um, we also service people whohave faced loss, um, which was
(16:11):
like, I was always around thatworking in labor and delivery.
And so like, it was, um, Ialways approached it a lot
differently because that was apart of my life and not
everybody had felt that way.
And so we do service those whohave faced loss because not
(16:31):
everybody can make the samedecision that we made.
And so we get to walk alongsideboth sides.
We do several different things,but those are the main things
that we do.
It's also in the far future, Iguess I should say, that we feel
(16:54):
like we're called to have aretreat center.
I don't know how or when that'sgoing to happen, but hopefully
the Lord will continue to openup those doors because I know
what He's shown me, but it's howdo you get there.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (17:09):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (17:10):
So I guess I will end my story by telling of his
faithfulness through all of thebrokenness.
And so after HUD passed away, westarted the nonprofit.
It had probably been, it wasaround March.
So he passed away in Novemberand this happened in March.
So I woke up one morning and Ifelt the need to take a
(17:31):
pregnancy test.
And I'm like, Lord, I'm notready.
I cannot go through this again.
And So sure enough, it waspositive.
And so I called my friend who isan OBGYN that I work with, and
I'm just sobbing.
And I tell her, I can't gothrough this again.
(17:52):
Like, I can't.
I don't know what the statisticsare after you've had a cardiac
baby, but I can't go throughthis again.
And she's like, Haley.
you know, I'm not God, but Idon't feel like that you're
going to have to go through thisagain.
I think that this is going to bethe redemption of a very hard
story that you have.
And so I was on eggshells.
(18:14):
I mean, you can ask anybody whowas close to me during that
time.
I was crazy.
I was like, I wouldn't drinkcertain things.
I wouldn't eat certain things.
Like, you know, I just, I wascrazy.
Um, just because like what i hadwent through i just wanted to be
extra cautious um i know thati'm not god i know that i can't
(18:36):
protect you know do all thethings but at the same time i
just i guess i just needed acontrol moment um so we did all
the things we went to thespecialist we went to the
cardiologist i remember actuallythe cardiologist that we saw
during hudson's um When I waspregnant with him, I saw him in
(18:57):
the cafeteria one day and I wasprobably only six weeks
pregnant.
And I ran up to him and I say,Dr.
Sabino, I'm pregnant and I'mterrified.
And here I am crying these bigalligator tears in the middle of
the cafeteria.
And he's like, we'll see you inthe office as soon as we can.
And I swear, I didn't even knowwhat, what the baby was at this
(19:17):
point.
I was only like 12 weeks and thebaby's heart was probably the
size of like a seed.
And he's like, we'll get you inthe office just to do a first
look.
So they looked at the heart.
There were all four chambers.
Everything seems normal, but weweren't out of the clear yet.
So we went to all theappointments.
Everything was fine.
Um, I started getting a littleanxious around Hud's birthday,
(19:41):
which was in November.
We do a 5K every year, and so itwas around the 5K.
I just started feeling off, andI would mark it up as, like,
anxiety.
Like, this is a big thing forme.
Like, it's Hud's birthday.
His anniversary of his passingis coming up, and I'm pregnant.
And so it was hard for me, and Iremember my kids.
(20:05):
They were eight and...
four at the time, they wouldjust cry and they would say, we
want you to bring the baby homenow.
And I would say, I know we haveto keep praying.
And so it was just hard.
It was very hard on how tonavigate that.
And a four-year-old and aneight-year-old, they have a lot
of questions, a lot ofquestions.
(20:28):
Some questions that I didn'tfeel qualified to answer and I
just had to do the best of myability.
So Hudson, his birthday passed.
It was on November 11th.
So 13 days later would have beenhis anniversary of his passing.
So I woke up one morning, it wason the 23rd and I just didn't
(20:48):
feel right.
I just, I could feel from thepit of my stomach that like
something just wasn't right.
So I called the physician thatwas at the hospital at that
time.
And I said, you know, I just, myheart rate is like one 50.
I just feel restless.
I don't.
Yeah.
I did not feel myself at all.
(21:09):
Um, I just felt restless.
Um, I was hurting like in myabdomen.
And so the physician tried tosay it's anxiety, you know, like
it sounds like cardiomyopathy.
You might need to go to the ER.
Um, So I'm like, no, I'm notgoing to the ER.
I'll just wait it out at home.
So finally, the pain got so bad,I went to the hospital.
(21:31):
And so the physician that wasgoing to deliver me wasn't
there.
So I sent him a text and I'mlike, hey, I'm at the hospital.
He's like, keep me updated.
I'll call the nurse.
So he called the nurse, ended upcoming to the hospital to
deliver me.
So our rainbow baby was bornfive weeks early, 35 minutes
(21:53):
before HUD's one-yearanniversary in heaven.
Wow.
Yeah.
So I sat in the NICU on thatday.
He did have to go to the NICUfor a couple of days.
But overall, he was extremelyhealthy.
And a NICU stay where I can holdmy baby is far better than the
one we had just went through.
And so...
(22:15):
I held him on that day and Iremember singing goodness of God
to him and just all my lifeyou've been faithful.
He is faithful in every seasoneven when we feel like he's not
there or not listening orsilent.
He is faithful and he will provethat time and time again even if
(22:38):
it's not on our time or what wefeel like it should be.
I wrestled with him a lot, youknow, like, why HUD?
Why us?
And now that we've walkedthrough what we have and we've
been able to be a part of all ofthe families that we have, I
still have people that come upto me.
This actually happened just acouple of weeks ago.
(23:00):
A lady came up to me and shesaid, you don't know me, but I
prayed for you.
I prayed a lot for you.
And just knowing that you know,my baby had that impact on the,
on the kingdom of God.
Like it's, it's insane.
Um, and so even when we gothrough trials, like God will
(23:22):
use them, he will every time.
And so I take heart in that.
And I know that like one day wewill be with HUD again.
Um, but there's still work to doin HUD's name.
There is.
And so that's what, that's whatwe do.
We, We try to be a lot to thelost and the broken and not
(23:46):
everybody has the faith that wehave.
And specifically, you know,being in the hospital, the
nurses see all kinds of things.
And so I remember they werearguing over who was going to
take care of HUD one day.
And I said, why are y'allarguing over him?
Because in my neck of the woods,like this is a train wreck.
(24:08):
Like he's got a lot going on.
And they both said, well, wedon't get patients like you and
dad every day.
You know, like it's not everyday we can walk into a room and
it feels peaceful.
It feels calm.
And it's like God is here.
And so just that kind of wreckedme because then I realized like
(24:29):
not everybody comes into thishospital with the fate like we
have.
SPEAKER_01 (24:33):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (24:34):
And so that was like my personal goal is to in every
HUD box that we have, every timewe deliver to the hospital, we
put something faith-based in it.
And, you know, it's verycontroversial, especially in
Atlanta and, like, big citieslike that, about your faith.
(24:54):
But they know when it comes fromus, it's going to have something
with Scripture in it.
Right.
And they know that it's alwaysgoing to point to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01 (25:05):
You know, in this day and time, you have to...
Ben Fuller sings a song, youknow, and he says that you
can...
It's not even Ben Fuller.
I don't know who sings it now.
But...
You can, you know, it takes athousand ways to hit rock
bottom, but it only takes oneway up, you know, and hitting
(25:28):
rock bottom, whether it'sthrough addiction or through
loss or trauma or through justfinding your faith.
And that's, you know, that's whythis podcast got started is
because I want everybody in theworld to feel his grace, to feel
his grace one time and And wetalk about faith, and people
(25:54):
talk about it like it's dealt,like we're playing cards.
And it's really not.
It's really not that way.
And you inspire me.
We were just having thisconversation, because your
faith...
you know, I tell people all thetime, I was like, if I could
(26:14):
just have faith, just, just amustard seed of the Haley's
faith, you know, can I, can I,can I see what, you know, can we
imagine what could happen?
But then anytime you have anidea, you're running to me and
we're like, and I'm like, okay,we'll just do this.
And you're like, okay, let's go.
You know, and, and I've toldthis story a few times, but, My
(26:36):
first year at Rock Mart, youwere the first nonprofit that I
was introduced to when at mystore.
And that first year, I got mybonus as the store manager, and
it was a very significant bonus.
And I just knew my path in lifewas I was going to get started
(26:56):
in nonprofit.
I've always had a heart to helppeople, and that's what I was
going to do.
And then...
Every time I tried something,every door I knocked on, every
phone call I made, people didn'treturn my phone calls.
Like, it was just, I was like,are you serious?
Like, for the first time ever, Ican afford to do whatever I want
(27:17):
to do to a point, you know.
And I was like, and it kind ofdisappointed me.
And I was like, dude, I'mjumping out here.
What do you want from me?
And he said, nope.
You're just going to wait.
And I was like, I am not good atwaiting.
Like, I am not patient and I amnot good at waiting.
But then every time I every timeI would be like, OK, fine, you
(27:40):
would come up and say, hey,Shannon, I need you to help me
do this.
Or, hey, Shannon, I need you tocan you help me do that?
You know, and I was like, OK,I'm listening.
I see you like I see you, God.
Right.
It's not my turn.
Right?
And the nonprofit's not for me.
And I do truly believe that wewere brought together to make a
difference somewhere.
SPEAKER_00 (28:02):
100%.
I agree.
Yeah, I do.
It was total divine that we metand are able to collaborate in
the ways that we do.
And you honestly are such a bighelp to HUD's heart.
And you just benefit us in somany ways, not just...
(28:24):
financially or anything likethat but just your prayers and
your heart behind it and yourwill to help we couldn't do it
without you
SPEAKER_01 (28:33):
so well well you know so i thank you for being
here today and i thank you fortaking the time to share your
story with us um i believe thathud's heart's It's a story that
people should hear.
I do.
And I hope that in your grief orin your time of loss that you
(28:55):
can think back or go back andlisten to this podcast of where
Haley came from.
There will be in thedescription, I will put a link
to the Hud's Heart website.
And you can donate on there,correctly?
Correct?
(29:15):
So you can donate on there tohelp with her vision and to help
with their story and to helpcontinue to fund what they do.
Grief doesn't always get thespace it needs, but God meets us
there.
And, you know, it's amazing howhe meets us there.
In 2 Timothy 2.13, if you arefaithfulness, he remains
(29:39):
faithful, for he can't denyhimself.
Right?
So good.
Right?
Like, faithfulness, and heremains faithful.
And, you know, it is what it is.
At the end of the day, God'sfaithfulness and all he wants is
(29:59):
for you to spend some time withhim.
UNKNOWN (30:01):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (30:01):
Right?
Like, that's all He wants.
He doesn't demand you to do thisor to do that.
All He wants is for you to say,hey.
Every now and again, you know,say hey.
But whenever you're right, saythis.
Whenever you want to, you saythis with us.
These are some declarations thatcan help you through things.
(30:23):
My God is faithful.
He is close to thebrokenhearted.
His promises are still true.
He brings beauty from ashes.
Even in grief, I am never alone.
We will post those in thedescription below along with a
prayer if you are having troublepraying to God.
(30:44):
But Ms.
Haley, will you pray us out fortoday?
SPEAKER_00 (30:46):
Of course.
Father, thank you for being theGod who stays.
For the woman grieving rightnow, wrap her in your presence.
For the family carryingheartbreak, send peace and
provision.
Thank you for calling women likeme to be a light in the darkest
places.
May your faithfulness shinethrough every tear, every story,
(31:08):
every step.
In Jesus' name,
SPEAKER_01 (31:10):
amen.
Amen.
(31:33):
There will be songs and prayersin the description of the
episode.
Please follow us on TikTok atUnrelated Sisters Podcast and
hashtag us at usingMyGodIsFaithful hashtag Hud's
Heart.
Amen.
(00:00):
Amen.
(00:27):
My God is Faithful We're honoredto welcome a dear sister in
Christ and powerhouse ofpurpose, Haley.
(00:49):
Haley is the founder of Hud'sHeart, a ministry born from both
heartbreak and God's deepfaithfulness.
She's here today to share herstory, her why and how God meets
us in our deepest pain with thekind of love that holds us
together.
What is faithfulness?
Let's anchor this conversationin scripture.
(01:10):
Second Thessalonians three,three says, but the Lord is
faithful and he will strengthenyou and protect you from the
evil ones.
Faithfulness doesn't meansteadiness, loyalty or truth.
And God's faithfulness is mostpowerful in its most fragile
moments.
(01:31):
It's good.
Haley, thank you for being heretoday.
Uh, You can start by whateveryou feel led to tell us.
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
Well, first of all, I'm honored to be on your
podcast, and I couldn't wait toshare our story after you asked
me.
I guess I will start from thebeginning of our story, really.
In 2021, I was pregnant with ourthird child, Hudson.
I worked in labor and delivery,so I have a medical background.
(02:02):
I went to my regular checkup forour 20 like our anatomy scan at
20 weeks and they found acongenital heart defect that
doesn't come from either of ourfamilies and so we were kind of
lost on you know what that lookslike for us after we got
(02:23):
multiple opinions from medicalprofessionals here there and
everywhere We decided that wehad to get to Choa to be able to
give our son Hudson the bestoption as far as like what would
be next for him.
We knew that he was a very sicklittle boy and that ultimately
(02:46):
it was probably one of thehardest points of my life
because I've always had faith inGod.
I've always trusted him and hisfaithfulness, but this was
something beyond my control.
which is really hard when youlike to take the reins a lot.
Yes.
So I feel like the Lord reallyhad to do a work in me and just
teaching me like, hey, you haveto trust me.
And so after we got all of theoptions and they laid it all out
(03:11):
for us, I mean, they gave usevery option under the sun,
starting with abortion at 23weeks.
We quickly were like, no, no.
That is not what we believe.
I know that God has a purposefor this baby and whatever that
looks like, that's what we'regoing to do.
And so we ultimately went withthe stage surgeries.
(03:33):
So we knew that he would havethree stages of surgeries.
And so the first one would be onthe day he was born, which was
really hard because he was ourthird child and we had never
even had a NICU baby before.
So for us to give birth and thenimmediately hand our baby, our
(03:54):
newborn, over to a team ofsurgeons for them to save his
life was really hard for us.
It was super challenging.
And so we really had to find ourdeep root and our faith through
that.
So my entire pregnancy, I feltlike the Lord was preparing me
for something, but also it wasin the middle of COVID, so...
(04:15):
My husband, who doesn't comefrom a medical background, he
was kind of in the dark on a lotof things.
He couldn't go to any of theappointments, inside any of the
appointments with me.
Wow.
Yeah.
It was disheartening.
So he kind of didn't have anyclue of how sick Hudson was.
(04:36):
And he kept saying, well, I justbelieve he's going to be healed.
And He didn't really want totalk about it.
We are very strong in our faith.
We raise our kids in church.
Now, we are both on staff at ourchurch.
We are very deeply rooted in ourrelationship with the Lord.
I guess that he just didn'trealize just how serious that
(05:01):
Hudson's condition was.
Ultimately, Hudson was born.
He was the most beautiful baby.
They immediately intubated him.
They flew him to Choa.
So I didn't deliver at thehospital that I worked at.
So that was really sad too,because I wasn't with my people
(05:22):
that were familiar.
I had to choose another OBGYN.
So it wasn't with the peoplethat I am familiar with.
So when Hudson was born, theyflew him to Choa.
He had immediately had openheart surgery at four hours old.
And I was at a completely otherhospital.
(05:43):
So my husband had to go be withhim.
So he left me right after aC-section.
That was also really hard.
And that's when we had to trustGod the most.
I remember just as soon as theypulled him from my belly, I
remember just praying out loudand just crying over him.
And so Joey left, and he went tobe with Hudson.
(06:05):
And then...
Hudson did good through thenight, and then the next day, I
had already spoken to my OBGYN.
I was ready to get discharged,and then I got word from
Hudson's nurse that he wasn'tdoing the best.
They were kind of battling someblood pressure issues with him.
(06:26):
And so as soon as we werepulling out of the hospital
parking lot for me to go to Choato see him, really for the first
time because I didn't really getto see him when they pulled him
from me.
they called and said that he hadcoded.
And so they were doingeverything that they could to
work on him.
They got him back.
They placed him on ECMO.
(06:47):
So he was on ECMO for four days,which is a really long time to
be on ECMO when you're thatsick.
So
SPEAKER_01 (06:53):
for us that don't have a medical background, what
is ECMO?
So
SPEAKER_00 (06:58):
ECMO is like a heart and lung machine.
So basically it pumps all of theblood out of the body,
oxygenates it, and then puts itback in the body.
So they put you on that.
to give your heart and lungs alittle bit of rest, and that's
what he needed at the time.
For us, it was absolutelydevastating to see his chest be
(07:18):
open.
This is our newborn baby that welove so much and we have prayed
so hard for, and he's got all ofthese wires and tubes coming out
of him.
And I just remember just saying,like, Lord, I don't know what
you're going to do, but I knowit's going to be big.
Another thing is that we're likesuper private with all of our
(07:39):
things.
Like we don't, I just am not anovershare unless you're just in
my tight circle.
And so I remember before HUD wasborn, I was driving to work one
day right after his diagnosisand the Lord said, I want you to
share this story.
And I was like, Lord, are youserious?
Like I grew up Baptist and Iknow what people are going to
(07:59):
say about me.
Who is sinning in your house?
We know that, That's not thetruth, but...
That's just how I was raised.
SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
We talk a lot about the early Baptist churches being
raised in hellfire andbrimstone, not able to come back
from backsliding.
We talk about a lot of that onthis podcast.
It's
SPEAKER_00 (08:23):
okay.
I really wrestled with the Lord.
You want me to do what?
You want me to tell my story onsocial media?
I wasn't so sure about it.
Finally, He's like, no, I needyou to do this and so I made a
private or I guess it was publica little Facebook group and so
(08:46):
people could keep up with ourupdates and things like that
sent us encouragement andbecause we had no idea there was
nowhere that we could go and saywhat do we do how do we handle
this there was there's no localresources or there was no local
resources close to us that youknow we could that could help
(09:06):
us, guide or direct us.
It was just us and the Lord.
And so I created the Facebookgroup.
So on the day that Hudson wasborn, we probably had three or
four thousand people praying.
It was really crazy.
And so just over the course ofhis life, I mean, people that I
(09:29):
didn't even know, they wouldshare and they would be praying
and they would say, I have himon this prayer list and, you
know, just people that we didn'teven know.
So it was really incredible whatthe Lord did through that.
So it was really an up and downroller coaster for 13 days.
I mean, he would get better andwe would think we were one step
(09:51):
closer to coming home.
And then he would have a coupleof setbacks.
And then ultimately, I rememberon the 13th day, they came in
and they told me that he had apretty significant brain bleed.
And I remember the neurologist,she says, do you know what this
means for your child?
And I said, you know, no, Idon't.
And She had already kind ofrubbed me wrong, and I had
(10:15):
already had to step up a coupleof times and say, I understand
from a medical terminology whatyou're saying to me, but my
faith is bigger than what you'retelling me.
And so they already kind of knewthat's where I stood, and I was
very strong in that.
You're not going to tell me thatI have to pull all the wires or
(10:35):
anything like that because we'renot to that point yet.
Um, and so the neurologist toldme on day 13, she said, you
know, your son has a verysignificant brain bleed.
And I said, you know, she says,do you know what that means?
And I say, no, I don't know whatthat means, but I know the one
who does.
And so she tried to, you know,tell me that Hudson will never
(10:55):
be normal.
Well, I don't care if he'snormal, you know, like it's not,
this is, this baby was born fora purpose.
And like, I know that the Lordhas a plan.
Um, and so, He was going intolike a small surgery.
And so I had to leave the room.
And then I was only gone maybe45 minutes when they called me
(11:17):
that he wasn't doing well.
So I told my husband, I said,this is it.
Like, we're going to lose him.
And so my husband was like,you're crazy.
He's going to be fine.
HUD passed away.
And through that, Even being themost broken that I have ever
been in my life, I just knewthat the Lord had a plan and
(11:41):
that He was going to see usthrough this.
I didn't know what it lookedlike, but I just knew that He
was going to be faithful to usand that He was going to give us
back everything that we hadlost.
And so, I mean, we were broken.
We had to...
go home and plan a funeral andall of these things that we had
(12:04):
never planned to do and it wasjust absolutely devastating to
just I just remember sittingthere and just holding him and
just thanking God for the timethat we had with him but also
being a little a little bitterbecause I'm thinking like the
future like I'll never get toplan his birthday or things like
(12:25):
that and so that was that wasthe hardest part um But we all
know that some of the mostbeautiful things are birthed out
of tragedy.
SPEAKER_01 (12:36):
They are.
SPEAKER_00 (12:37):
And so, um, about three months after Hudson went
to heaven, we, uh, we do acorporate fast every year for
our church.
And so we were doing the fastand my husband was very angry
because like I said before, likehe didn't really realize how
serious the HUDS condition wasuntil after he was born.
(12:58):
Um, And so we were on the fast,and I remember just praying,
like, Lord, if I have to livewith this pain, this brokenness,
like, help me use it for yourgood.
And Romans 8.28 has been, like,my life verse for as long as I
can remember.
Like, in all things, God worksfor the good of those who love
(13:19):
him according to his purpose.
And so I was just praying, like,Lord, just help me use this for
your glory, right?
And so I felt like the Lord waslike, I want you to start a
nonprofit.
And I'm like, okay, but like,what does that look like?
Like, what does that look like,Lord?
(13:39):
And so I kept worrying about itfor a couple of days.
And about maybe a week into thefast, I approached my husband
and I said, the Lord wants me tostart a nonprofit.
And he wants us to do this forheart families and for families
who face loss.
And he's like, Haley, I don'tthink I can.
And he's like, I'm not ready foranything like that.
(14:01):
And I said, well, you just prayabout it for a couple of days
and you just let me know how,you know, how you feel.
If you feel like the Lord isspeaking to you.
He came right back and I mean,it was probably a day later and
he says, I think you're right.
We're supposed to start anonprofit.
Um, so we started doing researchon how to do that.
Um, and we formed HUD's heart.
(14:23):
So HUD's heart, um, We givemultiple times a year to CHOA,
to the people who are inpatientthere receiving care, because
when you have a cardiac baby,when you have a baby with any
type of heart condition, it'svery limited when they will be
(14:43):
in and out of the hospital, andyou never really know how
they're going to respond, thingslike that.
We knew that right off the batthat HUD would be there for
eight to ten months.
I mean, he was going to be therethrough the first surgery and
the second surgery.
And so we both had full-timejobs and two other kids.
And so one of the things that wealways battled was how are we
(15:06):
going to do this?
And so being able to donate tothe hospital to just make the
load a little lighter isdefinitely one of the things
that we love to do.
We also put together carepackages for local hospitals.
heart families who get a newdiagnosis or who are going in
for a surgery or anything likethat.
(15:27):
Um, we are, uh, very open withthat.
And so anytime that anybodywith, I mean, we've even
serviced people in likeKentucky, Alabama.
So I say local, but like, wereally don't discriminate if you
come to us and it's a need, likewe're gonna fulfill it.
(15:48):
Um, but we have, been blessed tobe able to service people
straight from our community,which is like the biggest
blessing to me, I think, becauselike I can be able to love on
them and, and just show them thelove of Jesus and just be a
light in a very dark moment forthem.
Um, we also service people whohave faced loss, um, which was
(16:11):
like, I was always around thatworking in labor and delivery.
And so like, it was, um, Ialways approached it a lot
differently because that was apart of my life and not
everybody had felt that way.
And so we do service those whohave faced loss because not
(16:31):
everybody can make the samedecision that we made.
And so we get to walk alongsideboth sides.
We do several different things,but those are the main things
that we do.
It's also in the far future, Iguess I should say, that we feel
(16:54):
like we're called to have aretreat center.
I don't know how or when that'sgoing to happen, but hopefully
the Lord will continue to openup those doors because I know
what He's shown me, but it's howdo you get there.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (17:09):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (17:10):
So I guess I will end my story by telling of his
faithfulness through all of thebrokenness.
And so after HUD passed away, westarted the nonprofit.
It had probably been, it wasaround March.
So he passed away in Novemberand this happened in March.
So I woke up one morning and Ifelt the need to take a
(17:31):
pregnancy test.
And I'm like, Lord, I'm notready.
I cannot go through this again.
And So sure enough, it waspositive.
And so I called my friend who isan OBGYN that I work with, and
I'm just sobbing.
And I tell her, I can't gothrough this again.
(17:52):
Like, I can't.
I don't know what the statisticsare after you've had a cardiac
baby, but I can't go throughthis again.
And she's like, Haley.
you know, I'm not God, but Idon't feel like that you're
going to have to go through thisagain.
I think that this is going to bethe redemption of a very hard
story that you have.
And so I was on eggshells.
(18:14):
I mean, you can ask anybody whowas close to me during that
time.
I was crazy.
I was like, I wouldn't drinkcertain things.
I wouldn't eat certain things.
Like, you know, I just, I wascrazy.
Um, just because like what i hadwent through i just wanted to be
extra cautious um i know thati'm not god i know that i can't
(18:36):
protect you know do all thethings but at the same time i
just i guess i just needed acontrol moment um so we did all
the things we went to thespecialist we went to the
cardiologist i remember actuallythe cardiologist that we saw
during hudson's um When I waspregnant with him, I saw him in
(18:57):
the cafeteria one day and I wasprobably only six weeks
pregnant.
And I ran up to him and I say,Dr.
Sabino, I'm pregnant and I'mterrified.
And here I am crying these bigalligator tears in the middle of
the cafeteria.
And he's like, we'll see you inthe office as soon as we can.
And I swear, I didn't even knowwhat, what the baby was at this
(19:17):
point.
I was only like 12 weeks and thebaby's heart was probably the
size of like a seed.
And he's like, we'll get you inthe office just to do a first
look.
So they looked at the heart.
There were all four chambers.
Everything seems normal, but weweren't out of the clear yet.
So we went to all theappointments.
Everything was fine.
Um, I started getting a littleanxious around Hud's birthday,
(19:41):
which was in November.
We do a 5K every year, and so itwas around the 5K.
I just started feeling off, andI would mark it up as, like,
anxiety.
Like, this is a big thing forme.
Like, it's Hud's birthday.
His anniversary of his passingis coming up, and I'm pregnant.
And so it was hard for me, and Iremember my kids.
(20:05):
They were eight and...
four at the time, they wouldjust cry and they would say, we
want you to bring the baby homenow.
And I would say, I know we haveto keep praying.
And so it was just hard.
It was very hard on how tonavigate that.
And a four-year-old and aneight-year-old, they have a lot
of questions, a lot ofquestions.
(20:28):
Some questions that I didn'tfeel qualified to answer and I
just had to do the best of myability.
So Hudson, his birthday passed.
It was on November 11th.
So 13 days later would have beenhis anniversary of his passing.
So I woke up one morning, it wason the 23rd and I just didn't
(20:48):
feel right.
I just, I could feel from thepit of my stomach that like
something just wasn't right.
So I called the physician thatwas at the hospital at that
time.
And I said, you know, I just, myheart rate is like one 50.
I just feel restless.
I don't.
Yeah.
I did not feel myself at all.
(21:09):
Um, I just felt restless.
Um, I was hurting like in myabdomen.
And so the physician tried tosay it's anxiety, you know, like
it sounds like cardiomyopathy.
You might need to go to the ER.
Um, So I'm like, no, I'm notgoing to the ER.
I'll just wait it out at home.
So finally, the pain got so bad,I went to the hospital.
(21:31):
And so the physician that wasgoing to deliver me wasn't
there.
So I sent him a text and I'mlike, hey, I'm at the hospital.
He's like, keep me updated.
I'll call the nurse.
So he called the nurse, ended upcoming to the hospital to
deliver me.
So our rainbow baby was bornfive weeks early, 35 minutes
(21:53):
before HUD's one-yearanniversary in heaven.
Wow.
Yeah.
So I sat in the NICU on thatday.
He did have to go to the NICUfor a couple of days.
But overall, he was extremelyhealthy.
And a NICU stay where I can holdmy baby is far better than the
one we had just went through.
And so...
(22:15):
I held him on that day and Iremember singing goodness of God
to him and just all my lifeyou've been faithful.
He is faithful in every seasoneven when we feel like he's not
there or not listening orsilent.
He is faithful and he will provethat time and time again even if
(22:38):
it's not on our time or what wefeel like it should be.
I wrestled with him a lot, youknow, like, why HUD?
Why us?
And now that we've walkedthrough what we have and we've
been able to be a part of all ofthe families that we have, I
still have people that come upto me.
This actually happened just acouple of weeks ago.
(23:00):
A lady came up to me and shesaid, you don't know me, but I
prayed for you.
I prayed a lot for you.
And just knowing that you know,my baby had that impact on the,
on the kingdom of God.
Like it's, it's insane.
Um, and so even when we gothrough trials, like God will
(23:22):
use them, he will every time.
And so I take heart in that.
And I know that like one day wewill be with HUD again.
Um, but there's still work to doin HUD's name.
There is.
And so that's what, that's whatwe do.
We, We try to be a lot to thelost and the broken and not
(23:46):
everybody has the faith that wehave.
And specifically, you know,being in the hospital, the
nurses see all kinds of things.
And so I remember they werearguing over who was going to
take care of HUD one day.
And I said, why are y'allarguing over him?
Because in my neck of the woods,like this is a train wreck.
(24:08):
Like he's got a lot going on.
And they both said, well, wedon't get patients like you and
dad every day.
You know, like it's not everyday we can walk into a room and
it feels peaceful.
It feels calm.
And it's like God is here.
And so just that kind of wreckedme because then I realized like
(24:29):
not everybody comes into thishospital with the fate like we
have.
SPEAKER_01 (24:33):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (24:34):
And so that was like my personal goal is to in every
HUD box that we have, every timewe deliver to the hospital, we
put something faith-based in it.
And, you know, it's verycontroversial, especially in
Atlanta and, like, big citieslike that, about your faith.
(24:54):
But they know when it comes fromus, it's going to have something
with Scripture in it.
Right.
And they know that it's alwaysgoing to point to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01 (25:05):
You know, in this day and time, you have to...
Ben Fuller sings a song, youknow, and he says that you
can...
It's not even Ben Fuller.
I don't know who sings it now.
But...
You can, you know, it takes athousand ways to hit rock
bottom, but it only takes oneway up, you know, and hitting
(25:28):
rock bottom, whether it'sthrough addiction or through
loss or trauma or through justfinding your faith.
And that's, you know, that's whythis podcast got started is
because I want everybody in theworld to feel his grace, to feel
his grace one time and And wetalk about faith, and people
(25:54):
talk about it like it's dealt,like we're playing cards.
And it's really not.
It's really not that way.
And you inspire me.
We were just having thisconversation, because your
faith...
you know, I tell people all thetime, I was like, if I could
(26:14):
just have faith, just, just amustard seed of the Haley's
faith, you know, can I, can I,can I see what, you know, can we
imagine what could happen?
But then anytime you have anidea, you're running to me and
we're like, and I'm like, okay,we'll just do this.
And you're like, okay, let's go.
You know, and, and I've toldthis story a few times, but, My
(26:36):
first year at Rock Mart, youwere the first nonprofit that I
was introduced to when at mystore.
And that first year, I got mybonus as the store manager, and
it was a very significant bonus.
And I just knew my path in lifewas I was going to get started
(26:56):
in nonprofit.
I've always had a heart to helppeople, and that's what I was
going to do.
And then...
Every time I tried something,every door I knocked on, every
phone call I made, people didn'treturn my phone calls.
Like, it was just, I was like,are you serious?
Like, for the first time ever, Ican afford to do whatever I want
(27:17):
to do to a point, you know.
And I was like, and it kind ofdisappointed me.
And I was like, dude, I'mjumping out here.
What do you want from me?
And he said, nope.
You're just going to wait.
And I was like, I am not good atwaiting.
Like, I am not patient and I amnot good at waiting.
But then every time I every timeI would be like, OK, fine, you
(27:40):
would come up and say, hey,Shannon, I need you to help me
do this.
Or, hey, Shannon, I need you tocan you help me do that?
You know, and I was like, OK,I'm listening.
I see you like I see you, God.
Right.
It's not my turn.
Right?
And the nonprofit's not for me.
And I do truly believe that wewere brought together to make a
difference somewhere.
SPEAKER_00 (28:02):
100%.
I agree.
Yeah, I do.
It was total divine that we metand are able to collaborate in
the ways that we do.
And you honestly are such a bighelp to HUD's heart.
And you just benefit us in somany ways, not just...
(28:24):
financially or anything likethat but just your prayers and
your heart behind it and yourwill to help we couldn't do it
without you
SPEAKER_01 (28:33):
so well well you know so i thank you for being
here today and i thank you fortaking the time to share your
story with us um i believe thathud's heart's It's a story that
people should hear.
I do.
And I hope that in your grief orin your time of loss that you
(28:55):
can think back or go back andlisten to this podcast of where
Haley came from.
There will be in thedescription, I will put a link
to the Hud's Heart website.
And you can donate on there,correctly?
Correct?
(29:15):
So you can donate on there tohelp with her vision and to help
with their story and to helpcontinue to fund what they do.
Grief doesn't always get thespace it needs, but God meets us
there.
And, you know, it's amazing howhe meets us there.
In 2 Timothy 2.13, if you arefaithfulness, he remains
(29:39):
faithful, for he can't denyhimself.
Right?
So good.
Right?
Like, faithfulness, and heremains faithful.
And, you know, it is what it is.
At the end of the day, God'sfaithfulness and all he wants is
(29:59):
for you to spend some time withhim.
UNKNOWN (30:01):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (30:01):
Right?
Like, that's all He wants.
He doesn't demand you to do thisor to do that.
All He wants is for you to say,hey.
Every now and again, you know,say hey.
But whenever you're right, saythis.
Whenever you want to, you saythis with us.
These are some declarations thatcan help you through things.
(30:23):
My God is faithful.
He is close to thebrokenhearted.
His promises are still true.
He brings beauty from ashes.
Even in grief, I am never alone.
We will post those in thedescription below along with a
prayer if you are having troublepraying to God.
(30:44):
But Ms.
Haley, will you pray us out fortoday?
SPEAKER_00 (30:46):
Of course.
Father, thank you for being theGod who stays.
For the woman grieving rightnow, wrap her in your presence.
For the family carryingheartbreak, send peace and
provision.
Thank you for calling women likeme to be a light in the darkest
places.
May your faithfulness shinethrough every tear, every story,
(31:08):
every step.
In Jesus' name,
SPEAKER_01 (31:10):
amen.
Amen.
(31:33):
There will be songs and prayersin the description of the
episode.
Please follow us on TikTok atUnrelated Sisters Podcast and
hashtag us at usingMyGodIsFaithful hashtag Hud's
Heart.
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