Christian Couple in Minnesota Head "Smile Again Ministries" for Parents Who Have Lost a Child
"Meeting other families who have lost a child is so helpful. People are able to see that their emotions are normal. The depression. The anger. The feeling that I?d really rather not get up at all today."
(Cross Lake, Minn.)—Nineteen years ago, Pastor Pat Misener and his wife Judy suddenly lost their young teen-aged daughter, Mickey. She died, without warning, from an undiagnosed heart condition. Amazingly, Pat notes that for years no one asked him, "How are you doing?"
Through their grief, the Miseners learned that there is a great need for outreach to parents who have faced similar tragedies. Enter, Smile Again Ministries. The idea for their ministry came about informally and did not happen overnight. It started simply, around their dining room table, listening to another couple who had lost a child and needed to talk about it with someone who could empathsize with them.
Over time, the Miseners bought some acreage on a small lake near Cross Lake where the plan is to build a four-apartment lodge which will be known as Mickey’s Lodge.
"We want to help families to get away together after they’ve lost a child,"said Pat Misener. "Meeting other families who have lost a child is so helpful. People are able to see that their emotions are normal. The depression. The anger. The feeling that I’d really rather not get up at all today."
Through it all, notes reporter Lis Trouten, the Miseners know there is hope, "because death has, at the end of the story, been defeated by the resurrection of Jesus. Because there is hope, there is peace."
