A Winnipeg family is mourning the loss of their seven-month-old boy and shares it's their faith that keeps them going. 

Nick McIvor and his wife, Sage, foster children they consider their own. After a callout by CHVN host Mike Thom for listeners to share good news stories, Nick called to tell their story.

"It starts off with a lot of pain," says Nick. "This year's been pretty tough on us. We lost my mom due to cancer. We were pretty distraught as she was our rock."

Nick works in the homeless sector and he says it was his mom that kept encouraging him in the empathetic work that he found emotionally taxing at times. 

"Five days in, we lost our baby."

"We recently took in some foster kids. Loving them like Jesus would and opening the doors to these kids' lives. We were doing things they never really did because they were so isolated from life."

On September 11, tragedy struck the McIvor home when their youngest boy, who was just seven months old, passed away. They had just welcomed him into the home five days earlier and formed a quick bond with the infant, eager to care for him and give him a happy life. Sage shares that each day they had the same routine that included two naps a day. During one of those naps, Sage found him on his stomach and when she turned him over, the baby's face was discoloured.

"I performed CPR and chest compressions until help arrived and went with him to the children's hospital where they did everything they could to bring him back but we lost him," Sage says. "In that moment I could see how people could curse God and turn away in anger but I chose to draw closer to him even though I couldn’t understand why it was his time at only seven months."

Nick says there have been many people praying over the couple after their loss. 

"Through it all, I couldn't even get the words to curse God. The only thing I could hear from the Spirit was, 'Don't worry Nick. I got him.' Building this relationship with God, it's the only reason I'm getting through it."

Nick says he's learned things through these times of sorrow. 

"I feel that after all these experiences, I could be a bit wiser in my decision-making. Deciphering what is God and what isn't God. Bringing that to the homeless shelter in the city. It's a rewarding experience to know that, I do have a few more grey hairs on my head but it's only because of being more wise and knowing how to deal with things."

He says the wisdom came from the tough times and experiences, in life and at work.

"Building this relationship with God, it's the only reason I'm getting through it."

"Even though it's a dark world, I know God is slowly working. That small little voice you hear? You have to listen to it because it is powerful. This world needs more incidents with God rather than just the evil one."

Sage agrees, acknowledging the questions of "why" are difficult to work through. "But at the end of the day, I know God is good and he knows everyone’s beginning and end. His plans are more than I can comprehend."

Asking for Prayer

"I see the homeless population of Winnipeg right now, they're so hopeless with the pandemic of drug overdoses. People are just selling their souls for this stuff. There needs to be a revival within our homeless population."

While the McIvors are mourning their losses, it's the weight of people experiencing homelessness that McIvor is asking people to pray for.

"I'm an ex-addict myself and I see the need, the emptiness, and the hopelessness. We have to stand together against this because it's getting out of hand. I think we have to pray together as a nation to get through things like this."