Less Than a Week Away!

The While We're Waiting Weekend Retreat is now less than a week away!  We are so excited about the group of people God has brought together for this weekend.  There is a couple coming whose child went to Heaven less than a year ago...and a couple whose child has been in Heaven for thirty years.  There is a couple coming who lost a full-term, preborn baby, and a couple who lost a 36 year old son in Afghanistan.  Some of us lost our children after long illnesses, and some of us lost our children suddenly and unexpectedly.  We are bound together by a common sorrow, but also by an uncommon Savior.  We are looking forward to sharing some delicious food and amazing fellowship.  There is nothing like spending unhurried, relaxed time with people who share your faith in God, and who understand you so completely.  Nobody can understand a parent who's lost a child like another parent who's lost a child.   

The other day on Facebook, I saw a post by someone whose dog had just died.  She had had this dog for many years, and I'm sure she was very sad to lose him.  But, she included in her post these words..."I feel like I've just lost my child."  And I thought to myself, "Wow...She really doesn't have a clue."  Until you've lost a child, you just don't get it.  I know I didn't.  And I'm really looking forward to spending all of next weekend with a group of people who do. 

There are still a few slots available for next weekend's retreat, if you'd like to come and be a part of it.  Lord willing, we'll be hosting another one this fall, tentatively scheduled for November 4-6, 2011.  Click on the "Weekend Retreat for Bereaved Parents" button over in the left hand column for additional information and to find out how you can register.  We believe that God is going to use these retreats in a mighty way to provide encouragement and support to those of us who are seeking to live well while we're waiting to be reunited with our children in Heaven someday. 

"...But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance."  Romans 8:25