shed tears of sadness.
God had convinced me that Zach-
ary’s short life, like that of the child
who’d been tossed in a dumpster, was
precious. And though, on that cold
winter day Zachary’s small casket was
lowered in the ground, I couldn’t see
what God had planned, the convic-
tion that every life mattered to God
continued to drive me.
A New Need
After Zachary’s burial, Alfie, still un-
der the mistaken impression I was part
of a larger organization, called me
again.“Do you buy headstones for
people?”
I didn’t know. But I wanted to hear
more.
Alfie told me about a thirteen-year-
old-boy, named Tim Bray, who’d
drowned in a city pool where he was
goofing off with friends one evening
after the pool had closed. “The mom,”
she explained, “is really grieving.”
Though I still couldn’t see what lay
ahead, I knew I wanted to meet Tim’s
mom, Addy. When I met Addy a few
days later in Alfie’s office, I wanted to
do whatever I could to help her honor
Tim’s life with a dignified burial. Recon-
necting with some of the contacts at
the funeral home and cemetery I’d
made when Zachary had been bur-
ied, I began to make plans. Part of
those plans included having a neck-
lace made for Addy with Tim’s name
engraved on a charm.
She swore she’d never take it off.
The following summer, Addy and
I conspired to offer swim lessons to
neighborhood children at the pool
where Tim had lost his life. Now, each
summer, the program designed to
honor Tim Bray continues to teach
children in his urban neighborhood to
swim.
Though I never had any interest in
creating an organization, He Knows
Your Name became the ministry um-
brella that would shelter wherever
God led. It unfolded organically as I
listened for God’s leading when re-
quests came my way.
The Baby Had a Name
Thirteen months after my first call to
Alfie, she called to tell me detectives
had found the mother of the baby
in the dumpster. Nichole Moody had
given birth the previous year, but her
son had not lived. When detectives
told her they believed they’d found
his remains, she refused to believe it
because her son had been cremat-
ed. Nichole was devastated when she
learned the funeral home that had
taken possession of her son had dis-
posed of his body illegally.
The day after she identified her
son’s body at the morgue, Nichole
and I met at the coroner’s office.
Nichole was clearly undone and
visibly agitated. Alfie introduced us
and explained to Nichole who I was.
I could tell by the expression on her
face that she was dubious.
Solutions 7