God has been so gracious to allow us to serve with teenage students now for almost 9 years! So, the job lends us some extra "youth" time and we have REALLY enjoyed it. But on Thursday night that all changed, even if for a season. We received a call that one of our 20 year old "former" students was killed in a single car accident. The news was so hard, everything runs through your mind..."did he really know the Lord?", you rethink every word spoken or not spoken, and the reality & eternal significance of our "job" hit us in the gut like a ton of bricks. Then Ryan got a call asking him to minister at the graveside. We went on Sunday to visit the family, what a depth of sorrow I pray that no one else ever has to feel, myself included. Then we went to the accident site. As we approached the mud clung to our shoes and you could see every hit the car made in the ground. Then a candle and wreath marked the spot where this young man was found. The ground was sunken. It was in the faint shape of his body. As we looked down there was a puddle of his blood. Again an emotional hit in the stomach. It was so violent and so unnecessary.
My thoughts over the past few days have drawn me to the cross. Which was so violent yet so very absolutely necessary. As his blood came out of his body... there was still hope of life. His blood was powerful, providing the covering we need for a right standing before a Holy God. When I looked at this young man's blood just resting there on the ground I imagined it flowing through his veins bringing him life and now it was useless. But not so with our Lord!
There is hope through the pain, there is hope through Christ's blood. So as I make a new section of my heart entitled "Student's who have died," and as I watched Ryan (a grown man in a suit) proclaim the hope of Christ to one of "our" student's grieving family I feel just a little more grown up, and so thankful for what God allows us to do for His glory!
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