Yesterday was a pretty big day for us. We had a couple of meetings with people discussing…. well, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.
As we continue to walk this life of faith that has been given to us, we are constantly unsure about the clear direction and specific path that we should be following. It seems that in life there are generally precedents or guidelines that we typically follow and perhaps adapt into our personal situation. These patterns usually involve a progression of steps like: get an education, get a job, start a family, get a pet, raise the family, advance at work, help out in church or maybe in some other “good cause,” and then in time we expect to retire and have “unlimited time” to spend with grandkids and doing things that “we really want to do.” Each person’s specific path will look different, but in the end, there’s a similar general process or formula to how we got from childhood into retirement. Our job is typically our source of income. We spend nearly as much time working for an employer in five days as we do sleeping in seven. Then we use the remaining time for everything else that we need to do. For most people, our work involves making widgets, fixing broken things, selling widgets, or managing those people. Having lost our daughter, that typical means of income seems to be empty and meaningless for us. In my search for employment and in our hearts, a “normal” job looks like a closed door. It really seems that God has something very different for our lives, and that “thing” is inescapably tied to our loss.
As we have said before in previous posts, God had been preparing us for major change in our lives several months before Hannah’s accident. There was pressure, disappointment, and discontentment that built up to the point that we prayed and told God that we wanted more of Him in our lives. We were tired of feeling like life was going nowhere. We were tired of waiting for other people to change. We wanted to see Him clearly and specifically at work in us. We told Him that we wanted a unique and personal relationship of faith in Him in which we, ourselves, could “walk on water.” Little did we know how He would answer that request! But He took that prayer and our little faith and stretched them to their breaking point. He helped us trust Him and say as Jesus did, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” He carried us through the “Valley of the shadow of death.” He gave us comfort and strength as we were weak, and He has seemingly set our lives on a clearly different path, moving in a unique and very personal direction. This is the very thing that we asked for, but in no way did we ever anticipate the means by which we got here.
In this life of faith that we’re on; we can’t follow in the footsteps of other people at this point in our lives. In answering that prayer, God removed us from that typical pattern of life and is sending us in a new direction. Our situation is very unique, and it comes with a lot of responsibilities and ministry opportunities, but it also requires a lot of faith and time. One of these opportunities is that the eye bank has asked us to partner with them, as volunteers, to help them with donor support primarily, but also by raising public awareness to the work that they do. Donor support involves sharing our story, helping lead conversations with donor families, personal communication with other donor families, and doing whatever we can to help provide comfort, encouragement, and support for families after their loss. Our “faith” has been on clear display throughout this journey, and that will not change. Our partnering with them, especially as volunteers, gives us the opportunity to help other people without compromising any of our faith.
The second person that we spoke with was someone who can help us set up Hannah Helps as an official nonprofit organization with the goal of getting the IRS 503(C)(3) tax exemption status. The only thing that seems clear in our lives is that we need to continue to develop what God has started with Hannah Helps. This has been an “organic” process that we never dreamed would have happened. It began just as a simple Facebook page to update people on Hannah’s accident and condition, but God has grown it into something more than that. We see that there’s tons of work for us to do with “Hannah’s Story” and an amazing amount of ministry opportunities that we can have. Our goals right now are to continue to share our journey through Facebook, hannahhelps.blog , and YouTube; while continuing to demonstrate God’s love by helping other people, both spiritually and physically, through the Hannah Story Tract, organ donor and loss of a loved one support, allergy awareness, and organ donation awareness. This journey of faith is a path assembled as we walk it. We can see how it has come together in the past, but as we look to the future, we can only take the next step when it’s presented. Forming and official, legal organization is that next step. Please continue to pray for us.
We are blessed.
Hannah Helps 