God's Presence in the Midst of Tragedy

It was the evening of July 22, 2022. Micah and I were settling down for the evening when Micah made mention that she had not remembered the baby moving that day. Our fears were realized when at the hospital at about midnight of July 23rd the doctors could not find a heartbeat. Our sweet baby Hannah Lynn had died in the womb just before a scheduled induced labor. Labor was induced anyway, and Hannah was stillborn. In our minds, nothing could prepare us for the pain and hurt we did experience and would continue to experience. But our minds are not the mind of God. Little did we know what God had planned and that He was orchestrating everything behind the scenes to not only prepare us but also to provide for us in our greatest time of need and to demonstrate to us His continual presence in the midst of tragedy.

God’s presence in the midst of tragedy

The Due Date

When we first found out we were pregnant and began hoping and dreaming of a future with three children, God already knew what the outcome would be. By our calculations, we figured our baby would be born around the end of July. Eventually an initial date was given by doctors of July 25th, based largely on the size of the baby at one of the first ultrasounds. However, the due date was officially pushed 5 days later to July 30th. Instead of adjusting to the new due date, we continued to the 25th as our guide. Little did we know how providential this was. Micah’s parents made their initial travel plans according to the July 25th due date. They planned to arrive on the 23rd. Had the due date been later, they would not have arrived when they did to help us, and particularly Micah and the boys, through our pain of loss. But Micah’s parents were not the first on the scene. My mother and sister were.

A Timely Root Canal

My mother, who lives in Western PA which is about 5.5 hours from our house, planned on visiting my Oma (grandmother) in Rochester, NY the week of July 10th. However, the week before she started having tooth pain. As it turned out, she needed a root canal which occurred the week of July 10th. Because of that, she postponed her visit to the week of July 18th. That forced her visit to coincide with my sister’s visit with Oma; they both visited the same week. My dad needed to be back in PA for work, so my mom was in Rochester without a car. In the early morning of July 24th, Micah was at the hospital, and I was at home with our sleeping boys. I called my dad in PA who called my mom in Rochester, NY and three hours later, my sister drove my mom in the middle of the night to our house so I could be with Micah. Had my mom not had a root canal that pushed her visit to the following week and had my sister not been in Rochester the same time to drive her in the middle of the night, I could not have been with Micah at the hospital and would not have been there when Hannah was born.

Scheduled Induction

The scheduled induced labor was also a blessing from God. While it is hard to think that Hannah died to close to her scheduled date of entrance into this world, it also meant that Micah’s doctor was already preparing to be there on Saturday for the delivery. While we do not know what would have happened if that was not the case, we do know that Micah had the comfort of her doctor there that day because of the scheduled induced labor.

A Caring Funeral Home

But God’s blessing did not end there. No, He continued to demonstrate His tender love and care in part through the Wright-Beard Funeral home. When they came to take Hannah away, the funeral home representative informed us that they would charge us everything at cost in order to help us in the grief of losing Hannah; they were not interested in making a profit. The cost of everything then came to about $1700. But a week later, I received an email from them informing us that they had been able to further discount the charges for us. The new bill was only about $750. But God wasn’t done yet.

A Loving Church

Leptondale Bible Church, a supporting church of ours and the one I grew up in, contacted us and offered to take any remaining charges. Their deacon board agreed to pay the $1200 cost of the memorial we chose for Hannah. And God’s blessing continues.

A Generous Church Family

Dozens of people, friends, family, strangers, have reached out to us with prayers and condolences. We didn’t have to make any meals for a week because of the generosity of our church family. That enabled us to live without worry of food and without the effort of preparing food every day. Enough food was provided even for 20 or so family members who stayed after the burial and into the next day.

A Timely Friendship

God’s blessing also includes His provision of encouragement. Since the new year, I have been attending a pastor’s fellowship once a month at Berean Bible Church in Cortland. Four or five pastors get together for lunch and to discuss a chapter of the book we are reading. It was at this fellowship that I met Pastor John Iler. We began to develop a friendship, and a couple of weeks before Hannah died John took me out for breakfast to get to know me more. Well, that pastoral friendship came at the exact moment I needed because God knew I would need a pastor and friend to help hold me up when I couldn’t do it on my own. And he was the right man at the right time to lead the funeral service for our dear Hannah. I cannot imagine going through all that without the support of John. But it’s not the only encouragement God has given to us.

A Perfectly Planned Conference

When planning the VM staff conference, our District Representatives Skip and Venita settled on Sacandaga Bible Conference, but no dates were available during the regular conference month. However, a week in August was free so it was scheduled for then. With a baby coming at the end of July, we knew we wouldn’t be able to go. But God knew what He was doing. In His infinite wisdom and love, He has seen fit to plan the conference to come at a time when we needed it most. We now plan on attending so that we may receive encouragement and participate in the fellowship. And yet God’s still not done working.

An Ordained Study

Before Hannah’s death, I had already decided to take a break from Psalms and begin a new sermon series after finishing Psalm 10. After prayer and searching, I was convinced that I wanted to do a series on faith from Hebrews 11, specifically looking at the lives of people mentioned in that chapter whom the author said he didn’t have the time to talk about, people like Gideon and Jephthah and the prophets. Little did I know how much I would need that study to help me through the most difficult time of my life. But God knew, and He knows how much I and the rest of us need to be encouraged and challenged and strengthened in our faith. So, God’s blessing and care promises to continue, not just for me and my family, but for all of us.

Conclusion

It is my intention in sharing all these things with you so that you may be encouraged as you are reminded of God’s goodness in the face of tragedy, and so that you too would be encouraged to consider how God is working and blessing through our tragedy. I do not understand why God allowed our Hannah Lynn to be taken from us, but He clearly has not left us and He never will.

I’d like to close by reading Hebrews 13:5-6, “God has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ Therefore, we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?’”

God never leaves those whom He loves.