Last Thursday just five days after he turned 16,  a young man who attended my church took his life "in a moment of crisis."

His parents and I are little more than acquaintances, but it doesn't matter.  I am a mom.  There is nothing I won't do to keep my child from being harmed, and I KNOW that was the same for them.

To hear Joy's sobs, her heart actually breaking, sends a fellow mom into a world of despair. 

I think it was the hardest funeral I've ever been to including the funerals of deeply loved family members, a newborn baby, another really sick young child from my church, one of my best friends from high school who died in a car accident (also at age 16).  

The anguish of these events was heart wrenching.  

The fact that these events were out of anybody's control doesn't take away the pain, but I can understand them a little more.

No one saw this coming.  It's nobody's fault. 

It hurts.

Because this pain spans to all parents, I make this plea to myself and to you.

Let's talk to our kids. Everyday.

Let's be intentional. With our time.

Let's make our homes a safe place. To be ourselves.

I know Mike and Joy did all this in their home. 

Life is not an exact science.

Let's we can make the most out of the time we have.

Family Fun Twin Cities sends our condolences to the Donley family.