From Great Loss To Great Gain

From Great Loss to Great Gain

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28

It was at a concert benefiting Place of Hope, our local homeless shelter, after we’d watched ballerinas dancing and heard a lovely soprano singing, that the announcement came. Place of Hope was in the midst of updating their women’s wing, and they had decided to call it Katie’s Club. Katie’s Club—as in my sister’s foundation. My sister’s legacy. After watching a video about the impact Katie’s Club has made over the past ten years, my family rose to step onstage, and I couldn’t help but beam through my tears.

After the concert was over, I was approached over and over by strangers. They radiated sincerity, all offering condolences for my loss, all marveling that such a tragedy could result in something as wonderful and helpful as a new women’s wing at Place of Hope. I was reminded once again of something Kendra, Julie, and I wrote a few years ago: only through great loss can we experience God’s great gain.

In the past ten years, we have raised $200,000 through the foundation to support girls and women, to give them opportunities in Christian environments that they otherwise might not have had: providing them with an education, sending them to camp, assisting trafficked women, serving the homeless. But what’s even more meaningful is that these opportunities have given them hope, choices, freedom. Those intangibles have made the burdensome weight of grief a little lighter, a little easier to bear. I’m so grateful that our pain over losing Katrina has given us the opportunity to accomplish something so much bigger than ourselves.

As I left the concert that evening, I felt blessed, thankful, and most of all, hopeful. Sometimes when we experience grief or tragedy, it can be hard to believe that God can truly cause everything to work together for our good. Yet if we allow him to, he can use our experience to teach us things or help others in ways we never could have imagined.

—Kristin

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Are you grieving someone? Do one kind action as a tribute to their influence on your life.