Breathless Haste

When you suffer deep pain, it either draws you closer to God, or you push Him away. It hurts too much to stay in the same place spiritually. In retrospect, losing Brock was a part of us drawing closer to God. To be clear, that is not why we lost him, but it did result in us digging deep into the faith we had so conveniently put on shelves in college. Our church was a large part of that growth. After we were married and had begun to think about starting a family, we decided we needed to find a community of faith. In truth, this was probably the Spirit drawing us back to God for what was to come. It would be nice to describe our choice of First Presbyterian Church as a deeply prayed over and theologically grounded decision, but the truth is that we made a superficial choice. With its architecture and stained-glass windows, the church was beautiful, and we were drawn to that beauty. It was also located near our house, and the people seemed nice. God uses many ways to lead us, even ways that appear superficial.

The church community we became a part of at First Presbyterian was a Sunday school class called the Flock. The Flock was a large group of young couples in a similar stage of life. They were starting families, building careers, and trying to integrate life with faith. After Brock’s death, those friends gave us the love and support we so desperately needed. We experienced Jesus through their words and prayers and through the meals they delivered—actions that helped us to believe that all of this was somehow in God’s plan. In essence, God loved us through them by providing a picture of Christian community, a picture that continues to inspire us in our life and ministry. Some of our best friendships began there and have remained strong all these decades later, despite the many miles and years that have separated us. We bonded through our tragedy and their love for us.