2 weeks ago today I lost a mentor and a great friend in a motorcycle accident.

Mark was an Assistant Pastor at our church and a member of our Board. He had been with us the last 3 years and had become a huge part of our team.

Mark was one of the most inspirational people in my life and I miss him tremendously. He specifically worked on my last 4 messages with me; helping me to think through, write, adjust and then deliver. In fact, the Sunday before he passed away, I spoke at our church and he had helped me work through it the week before. He waited for me by the back door after church and gave me a huge hug and told me that the message was very clear and well delivered. It was the best that I had done.

Mark was the first one to leave me a voice mail when Caden was born.

I roomed with Mark and played golf with him last September at a conference we were at in Detroit. I kept him up late at night talking because I was taking Vicadin for some oral surgery and it made me talkative.

I had lunch with him on a consistent basis at Smoky Bones.

Mark talked me through some tough times last fall.

He believed in me tremendously and I knew it.

I thought he was supposed to play a major role in my life and the life of my son…. So, it’s confusing.

But even if I knew why, it wouldn’t change anything. The hurt would still be there because he’s in a different place and I would still miss him.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 at 8:04 am and is filed under Personal Stuff, The Church At Polaris. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.