Most of my blogs are about happy things. This isn’t one of them.

I’ve been in pastoral ministry for 32+ years. Like many pastors, I’ve seen it all. I’ve held the new babies and sat in the ER when a teenager was seriously injured in an auto accident. I’ve sat with wives whose husband died of a heart attack and walked the journey of cancer to its end more times than I can remember. I’ve done funerals for children, been present when children died, and seen the pain in a mom and dad’s face when they thought they might lose their child to illness.

I know I’m not the only one, vocationally or otherwise, who experiences these things. But I recently experienced a new level of a pain.

I was recently called to the hospital when one of our young mothers lost a child at 28 weeks. Due to the medical circumstances a C section was required, bring physical pain on top of emotional pain. I walked in the room, sat down beside the woman, took her hand and prayed. She asked me if I wanted to hold her son. He was wrapped in a blanket on the other side of the bed, so I hadn’t seen him. When I took him in my arms I felt a level of pain I’d never experienced before. There was nothing to do but hold him and walk their journey with them, even if only for a few minutes.

If you conclude this blog is about me, it is – at least partly. But it’s really about the faithfulness of God and how He is bringing healing to this young couple. Her closest friend is planning a balloon launch at the end of the funeral, our church family is providing a meal for the family, and other loving things are being done that I can’t share here. I’m so blessed to serve God and the UC family in both the greatest experiences and the painful ones.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark