Seventeen years ago today, a six-year-old girl named Morgan Nick 
disappeared from a Little League baseball park in Alma, Arkansas. I never met the little girl, nor did I know her family.
Nevertheless, every year when the local news media broadcasts a story to remind viewers she’s still missing, I’m one of the moms watching. Each time, my heart is stirred to pray. I grieve along with Morgan’s mother, Colleen Nick — so many years gone, so many mother-daughter moments that won’t be shared.
Each year, Morgan’s family marks her disappearance by gathering to release pink balloons and chase fireflies. Colleen Nick continues to hope her little girl (now a woman of 23) will one day return safely home. They’ve established a foundation in Morgan’s name, an organization whose motto is Love always hopes.
Tonight, when you tuck your little ones into bed, hug them close and remember those like the Nick family who’ve experienced the hope deferred (spoken of in Proverbs 13:12) and who long to know the reality of desire fulfilled is a tree of life. May God reward their faith.
