Harder Days

Today has been up and down. Church was pretty lively this morning, with everyone back from summer adventures. A lot of kids and some of the teens have been at camp and lots of the adults go away to cottages on the lake for the weekends over summer. So now school is back in and the weather is cooling down, people have returned to London for a new season.
I was tempted to leave this next part out, but I want to "keep it real" and be totally honest on this blog! I had an experience today which totally shook me up and so I'll share some of it with you. At work, I get to meet lots of interesting people and hear lots of fascinating stories. Tonight I met a guy who is a mess. Not so much of a mess to look at, but you can see in his eyes that he is emotionally and spiritually ruined right now. I spoke to him last week and heard about his addictions to drugs and alcohol. I sympathised and promised that he would be able to discuss his concerns and his desire to "get clean" with one of the social workers asap.
Today he opened up a bit more on his emotional state and he shared his story, which hit me like a train. Just two weeks ago, his wife was taken into hospital. She was 8 months pregnant, just like Tasha. In a space of only 20 minutes, she had a series of seizures, which resulted in both her death and the death of the unborn child. She leaves behind a man who is wrecked in every way and finds no hope in life, except for what he finds in a bottle or in a hit of some drug or another.
Obviously he was upset as he shared his story. It took every effort in me not to cry with him, although in hindsight I wish I had just shared tears with him tonight. He told me that he was finding it hard to decide if he still had his faith in God. I talked with him for a while and prayed with him, and then he left for what he guaranteed would be another sleepless night. I wish I knew what else to say or do but I'll be honest and say that some days, even the Chaplain looks up to heaven and tearfully asks 'why?'. If you're a praying person, please pray for him.
Goodnight.