three of our church members are hurting right now. yesterday morning two of our church members (justin & brandy) were in a serious car accident on the way back from visiting justin’s parents (ric & teri who are church members who recently moved up to the oklahoma). brandy was killed instantly within the accident. justin suffered a broken jaw, severe lacerations around his right ear, and a fractured pelvis. thankfully barry their almost two year old son suffered only a view scratches.
i found this out right when my family and i were starting to leave mobile, alabama. ric, teri, justin, brandy, and barry are all friends of mine. i baptized brandy almost four years ago, i did justin and brandy’s premarital counseling and was then able to officiate at their wedding. about a year and a half ago justin, brandy, and i developed a dedication service for barry and then with their family and friends we celebrated barry becoming a new member of their family. they mean alot to me.
of course, i’m not the only one who thinks the world of them. ric, teri, justin, and brandy have been actively involved within the life of the church and the lives of the members who compose it. they have served in many different ministries (the youth ministry being just one of the ministries that they have actively worked and served within). they have been people that you could count on to help others who were hurting and in need.
now they are the ones who are hurting and in need.
parkview has responded beautifully. people have been within them every step of the way during their pain. the thing i’ve been most proud of has been that nobody been offering stupid, cheesy, meaningless answers like “everything will be okay” and “the pain will only last for a little while.” scripture doesn’t offer stupid answers like that. scripture never makes light of the fact that evil things are just that … evil things. JESUS doesn’t offer platitudes and HE never just says “it’ll be alright.” instead, scripture continually shows a JESUS WHO goes through the pain with you. HE doesn’t always answer “why” things happens rather HE stands with us, shouts out at how bad it hurts, and gives just enough strength and comfort to make it through the pain. humans can go through anything if they have someone to go through it with them. JESUS does that. one day HE will remove the evil. until then HE stands with those who call on HIS name and screams against the darkness.
right now HE is standing with the woodlings and many of HIS followers are standing with them also.