Mo and Nancy Hodge have been vivid bike riders since the 1970’s when we took his youth group on an 850-mile cross country trip in 10 days. In their 70’s now, they still ride.
Last week Nancy was hit from behind by an impaired driver. Mo laid on the pavement with her but got no response. He thought he had lost her. But the Lord had better plans. She was taken to the hospital with her pelvis and several broken ribs, along with numerous other bones.
Nancy has a long road to travel in her rehab and healing. Please keep her in your prayers.
They will celebrate their 54th wedding anniversary tomorrow.
Following is a poem Mo wrote:
The house is quiet now.
I pass through these rooms
and feel the absence of her —
the love she always gave,
the care that filled this place.
Gone. But only for a while.
When she comes home,
it will be a new beginning.
I can never forget the desperation.
Face to face with her on the asphalt.
Her eyes closed.
Her lips silent.
And I, crying out to God.
But we have been given —
again, by His grace —
another chance.
To live the ordinary.
To have the normal back,
which I now know
was never ordinary at all.
Near our children.
Near our grandchildren.
Loving and being loved.
Meals around the table.
Ball games on summer evenings.
Laughter.
Her chair is empty this morning.
This is the hour we share our coffee,
and talk about the day ahead.
I wonder how her night went.
Whether the pain let her sleep.
I’ll see her soon —
lying in the hospital bed,
her body bruised and broken,
her smile still her own.
She meets her recovery
the way she has met every hard thing:
with grace.
Every nurse, every aide who enters her room
is loved like one of her own children,
like one of her first-graders.
My thoughts wander back this early morning,
through all the years.
She is in every one of them.
But today —
soon —
we will be together.
And by God’s grace
she will come back to her chair,
and to our early morning coffee.
How many more years?
Not many now.
Fifty-four years since our wedding, this Wednesday.
Fifty-four years.
And after all of it,
a new beginning.
By God’s grace.
We love you Mo & Nancy, just like we always have!
As founding Pastor of The Bridge Community Church and Executive Director of Mo Hodge Ministries, Mo resources Pastors and Leaders in the area of leadership development. He enables Pastors and leaders in the following areas: Developing Teams, Church Growth, Church Planting, Discipleship Multiplication, Nonprofit Organizational Management, Multi-site Church Development, Public Speaking, Capital Campaigns, and Sr. Pastor Succession. … Mo and his wife, Nancy, live in Anderson, IN with their children and grandchildren. Though retired, Mo is still active in ministry, preaching, teaching, and planting new churches wherever the Lord leads. You can follow him on LinkedIn or through his Newsletter.
Books by Mo Hodge
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