Losing a loved one can shake your faith to the core.  Especially, as my wife Jill and I know too well, if you lose a child.

It was the day after Thanksgiving in 2007.  Our 16 year-old daughter Kate and three of her friends were going for pancakes.  No alcohol, no cell phone use, no excessive speed, no erratic driving, just four friends doing the stuff that friends do.  But for some reason, Kate’s car drifted across the freeway, went under a cable barrier in the median, and was hit by an oncoming SUV.  Kate and her friends Katelyn and Brandon were killed.  Fortunately, their friend Aaron survived after dozens of surgeries, but remembers nothing about the accident.

The grief and the pain is indescribable; the hopelessness and loss of faith overwhelming.  Belief in heaven turns into prayers that there actually is a heaven.  It’s easy to believe, until you’re confronted with the reality of such a monumental loss. 

And then there’s God.  How can I believe in a God who would take three innocent, wonderful kids, robbing us of all our joy, all our dreams, all our hopes?   What kind of a God would do that?

As my faith spiraled to its lowest point, Kate stepped in and rescued me.  She sent me powerful signs that she’s okay and is in heaven watching over us.

A friend of mine, who lost her 17-year-old daughter Niki, calls them “God Winks.”  She believes that Niki sends her signs from heaven, but she says you have to look for them or they will pass you by.  She describes God Winks as a coincidence that’s too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. 

Kate has sent us some incredible God Winks, and they give me so much hope that I decided to try to write a book about them.  I’m looking to interview people who have experienced God Winks from their lost loved ones, and I’m hoping you can help by spreading the word.  As you’ll see from the forward, sample chapter and sample “short wink” on this site, each story starts with tragedy but ends with hope. 

I truly believe that should I be able to write this book, it will be helpful to those who are grieving.  So please read the sample chapter and short wink, and then contact me if you or someone you know has a story to tell.