Camp Mystic Flood: How to Transform Your Loss into Life-Changing Redemption

August 8, 2026August 8, 2026Posted by Steve Blaising4 Comments

One year after the Camp Mystic flood, the devastating losses of July 4, 2025, still reverberate across Texas and beyond.

At the gym today, I saw an interview with three dads who lost their daughters in the flood, sharing how and why they maintain their unwavering faith in God.

Twenty-eight people at Camp Mystic died in that flood, including 25 campers, two counselors, and camp director Dick Eastland.

Across Central Texas, the catastrophic flooding claimed at least 137 lives.

The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in less than an hour at dawn on July 4, 2025.

This is worse than a 100-year flood event, according to experts.

Approximately 100 billion gallons of rain fell on Kerr County, more than the daily flow of Niagara Falls.

Camp Mystic flood aftermath — Cabin where 20 girls went missing on July 5, 2025, in the Guadalupe River flood/Ronaldo Schemidt/gettyimages

Is it possible to storm-proof the future?

And later, loss?

Some folks say it’s never wise to camp by a river, especially one in the middle of “Flash Flood Alley,” where historic floods in August 1978 and July 1987 caused multiple fatalities.

But I think it’s fair to say there’s no place in the world to camp without risks.

An old Spanish proverb says, “There is no home which does not at some time know its hush.”

Three decisive steps may set a healing course for anyone drowning in tragedy.

Tags: Camp Mystic, Faith, Grief, loss, Prayer

Mastering Life’s Challenges: How to Win the 5-Second Game

September 11, 2024September 12, 2024Posted by Steve Blaising6 Comments

Ask Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer, who unexpectedly lost his beautiful wife to natural causes in 2009 at age 50, how to master challenges like the sudden death of a spouse.

Life challenges Cowboys coach — Cowboys Head Defensive Coach Mike Zimmer faces family losses/Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Ask him how he coped when he got a phone call that his son and best friend, a talented NFL coach himself, was found dead on his couch alone in his apartment at age 38.

The sudden death of a spouse or a child ranks number one as life’s most significant stressor.

Ask Coach Zimmer how football, the game he loves, knows, and coaches is a metaphor for handling life’s toughest challenges.

Tags: Grief, tragedy

Free-falling grief in the holidays? Embrace the warmth that heals

December 3, 2023March 24, 2026Posted by Steve Blaising2 Comments

Grief piles up for many in the holidays.

Recently, our senior pastor at Highland Park Presbyterian Church, Bryan Dunagan, died at age 44. His wife, Ali, and three children grieve a sudden loss as the holidays begin.

Just a few weeks later, another rising star, Jack Gibbons, age 36, co-founder of Bandera Ventures, died in a neighborhood auto accident, leaving behind his wife, Sarah, and their two-year-old daughter.

Sudden tragedies are like free-falling.