Struggling ...

This weekend was a real struggle. Yesterday morning I received a phone call informing me that there had been a tragic house fire in our town. There were two young people who did not make it out of the house alive. Several other family members received burns and needed medical attention. The two that died in the fire were connected to our church. One a young man who just finished his freshman year of college was a regular in our youth group and came to church some on Sundays. He was just in worship during his spring break. The other was a girl who was still in High School and visited our youth group a couple of times. Both of them were very active in High School and were on the track team.

The overwhelming feeling of shock and aching for the parents and siblings has not really eased in the hours since hearing the news. The family of the young man wants the funeral to be in our church and myself or my associate pastor will likely participate in the service.

Please pray for the families. Pray for students in our High School, especially as they return to classes on Tuesday. An empty desk in each class the young lady normally attended will be a grim reminder to everyone of the this tragedy. Pray for our church as we minister to these families. Pray for my associate and myself as we minister to many people during this time and if we participate in funeral. Pray for the firefighters who battled the blaze and recovered the bodies. 4 of the young men are part of our church (including my associate pastor) and all of them are volunteers and each of them knew the two who died.