After a devastating injury while on military duty in Afghanistan, the near loss of his wife and baby at childbirth, and now the destruction of his wood shop, Mark Olving is trying to put everything that has happened into perspective.

As reported by the Times News, Olving's wood shop was engulfed in flames early Monday morning. Following his 911 call, fire departments from Summit Hill, Coaldale, Lansford and surrounding communities were dispatched to the scene and extinguished the blaze."I was working in my shop and I heard a snapping noise. When I looked at the electrical box, I saw sparks shooting out to the floor," he said.Olving believed the sparks ignited some dust particles that came from wood treated with preservative oils.I tried to put out the flames with an extinguisher, but it was just too much and too fast. I felt so lost when the trucks came and were shooting water from the lake to put out the fire. I said to myself, 'What am I going to do now?' "Lives at riskTragedy and despair have defined multiple moments in the past few years of Olving's young 30 years of life.Coming from a family with a grandfather who flew a B29 bomber in World War II, he always wanted to be a soldier.As an army lieutenant in 2011, he was seriously injured in Afghanistan when his vehicle hit an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). His back was broken in two places and his broken arm had to be literally screwed back together.After four months in a military hospital and three months wearing a back brace, Olving refused a medical evaluation that would have discharged him from the Army."I wanted to go back to my unit and complete my service," said the 2004 graduate of Lehighton High School. "I was a platoon leader and I felt I was still responsible for my men."Olving served out his term and is now in the Army Airborne Reserve as a member of a civil affairs team that is ready to be deployed if called upon.He married Kimberly, his high school sweetheart, while he was still in active service.Upon hearing about his injury, which also left another soldier totally disabled, she drove from Philadelphia to Maryland to be by his side for just a few hours.Once married to Mark, Kimberly became pregnant with their son, Palmer, but her delivery and his birth were performed with serious health risks to her and to him."She had a condition called HELLP Syndrome (pre-eclampsia) and in her seventh month, we were told our baby had stopped growing," Olving said. "Then shortly after, she was rushed to the hospital with very high blood pressure for an emergency C-section. It was very risky for both of them, but thankfully everything turned out all right."Woodworking for therapy and smilesOlving, who earned a degree in history at Elmira College in New York, took an interest in working with wood from a shop class at Lehighton High School and from watching his father, who now makes jewelry, using tools. Never his passion at first, he decided to build with his hands because of a very different reason."I find that working with wood helps relieve my stress from what happened to me in the Army."He opened Rustic Cut Woodworking and set up a shop on his property in a building that was once used as a bread bakery for 14 Acres Farm located nearby.Sitting at a kitchen table and chairs handmade by him, he offered another reason why working with wood has become his passion."I just love to see people smile when I make them something," he said. "I don't even like to charge for labor."Uncertainty and determinationAs Olving walked through what used to be his dream wood shop, he pointed to the blackened remnants of tools both used and never used. He estimated the loss, minus the value of the building, to be near $20,000. He pointed to another area where he had begun to make kitchen cabinets for a customer and a set for his own kitchen, too.He then drew attention to a brand-new camper next to the rubble, its once shiny metal now melted at the corners and scarred from the bite of the blaze."Kimberly loves to go camping. That's why we bought this brand-new camper. We used it once."He worries that his insurance may not cover replacement costs because he didn't have a "business" clause written into his policy.The report of the fire from the Times News has aroused compassion from several well-wishers. Some have offered the use of their tools. A local man has offered the use of tools and a room in his shop until Olving rebuilds.Mark Olving will accept this calamity, just like he has the others."I just take it in stride and move forward."Right now, he just wants to clean up the mess and put up a new shop.As his eyes scanned the wreckage, he summoned a few words to describe the bigger picture of his life."It's all good."