We still do not fully understand why all the bad things happened but we do hold on to a God who seems to be available when most needed

In January 2017 our 41 year old son was killed in a car crash leaving a wife and three young children. At first we just about coped with being up in the area of his home, trying to comfort his children and living day to day back in Southampton amid a welter of emotions, fear for the future, confusion, sadness and loss.

In this period, we were held by the love of our many friends at church, including our pastors. We received so many cards, messages and flowers it all seemed to carry us along on a tide of support. We knew that many, especially in our house-group, were praying for us, and although we could not prove it this seemed to make a big difference. To have so many of our friends at the celebration of our son’s life meant a great deal to us.

There is a car insurance policy called ‘Mind the Gap’. It covers the gap between what your car was worth when you bought it and replacing it if it is written off. Through those first few weeks following our son’s death it seemed so much to us that God was ‘minding the gap’ between our own ability to cope with all that was happening and the fact that we could not cope in our own strength. Some things were so hard to do we just had to rely on God and it seemed He was there to help, not to keep us out of pain and struggle but to add His grace in the middle of it.

We still do not fully understand why all the bad things happened but we do hold on to a God who seems to be available when most needed. We feel that this grace and strength continues to uphold us as we travel through a painful journey we never imagined we would have embarked on.