grace during tragedy

Our little town suffered a major blow Wednesday night. We had just finished our prayer services and about 12 of us were still in the parking lot visiting when we got a call that a church van belonging to one of  our sister churches in our area had just been in a terrible accident. And that there were fatalities. The church van had just left their church loaded with 9 children and 2 adults after their Wednesday night services to take them home. The van left the road on the drivers side, hit a concrete culvert and flipped around causing extreme damage to the van and the passengers.  

We immediately headed to the site to be available for our friend and his wife who pastor that church and for the families of those involved. I have never seen anything so surreal in all my life. There were more red and blue lights flashing than I thought existed. There were ambulances and police cars and helicopters overhead and the sounds were almost unbearable. My heart was just torn in two for those involved and I was almost paralyzed with fear for what was to come. My first reaction was to call my mom to get her to pray. She was just leaving her church in Shreveport and there were still some people around so they immediately stopped to pray for all involved.

As I began to see the funeral home cars arrive, all I could do was cry out to God to send His sweet Spirit of comfort and peace. At times when there are no thoughts to be formed, God in His Sovereignty knows. Our precious Jesus intercedes for us and the Holy Spirit gives us utterance. We serve an awesome God.

We lost 5 precious people in the van accident. But praise God, all of them had personal relationships with the Lord. Even the little 4 year old girl did because she was secure in His Grace. There are 6 children and teenagers still in the hospital. Most have suffered many broken bones and have had surgery and still have more surgery to come. One young man has suffered brain trauma and needs our prayers desperately. Please lift up all these families to the Lord. 

I love our little town. I have never experienced the outpouring of love from so many people as I have from the   folks that make up our small community. People loving people. People loving God. People willing to sacrifice of their own for others. 

As we had children in 3 different hospitals in 3 different cities and even 1 different state, my husband and a few other pastors stepped in to help relieve the burden from the pastor of the church. We had a chance to minister to several different families and God just showed up in those visits and gave us the opportunity to share Him in a powerful way. He is so good.

As our town is still in shock over this tragedy, continue to pray that we will give God the praise for His goodness. Pray that we won't lose sight of our purpose here on earth. He is still faithful. His purpose is still Sovereign and Good. He is still on the Throne.  He is still God.

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through

Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,

nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,

nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other

creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"

(Romans 8:37-39)

Even in the face of tragedy God has a plan. He has been gracious to those in need and has enabled His love to be shown to those that needed a glimpse of who He is. May He continue to wrap those families up in His loving embrace and dispense His mercy and grace to their spirits. May He lavish His love on each person that they feel an unspeakable peace and presence of Him in their hearts. 

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Pray for those in the hospital: 

Kierra Wilcher

Olivia Oneal

Dalton Williams

Samantha Thornton

Jake Thornton

Aaron Copes

Pray for families of those who lost their lives:

Emma Adams (4)

Brittany Thornton (12)

Kaitlyn Thornton (19)

Portia Thornton (53) 

Joey McKann (30)

Missing my Daddy

"Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that
I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever."
(Psalm 73:25-26)

Fifteen years ago, I woke up not knowing that in a few short hours, my life would change drastically. I didn't have any idea that I was about to experience something that I didn't think I would ever have to experience. I didn't realize that I would go through something that only the grace of God would get me through. I didn't have a clue that a piece of my heart would be forever rended from my being.

I was a daddy's girl. I loved to do all the things that my daddy did. My older sister spent most of her time in the kitchen with my mother doing the girly thing as she liked to cook and sew. Me? I liked to watch football with my daddy. (go Cowboys!). I liked to watch golf with my daddy. If he was outside, then that's where I wanted to be. Whatever he was doing, I was right there beside him.

On July 12, 1994, I talked to my daddy on the phone for the last time. It was my birthday and he and my mother had called me and sang happy birthday to me over the phone just like always. His final words to me were "I love you sweetheart". My final words to him were "I love you daddy".

July 14th, when my sweet husband came home to tell me the news, I could tell by the look on his face that something was terribly wrong. Different thoughts ran through my head very quickly, but the one that settled in my mind was my daddy. "Is it my daddy?", I asked him in a choked up voice. He couldn't even speak - all he could do was nod his head.

My next question was one that seems a little strange. I had all sorts of things playing out in my head. I had answers in my head that I wanted him to respond with. I had things picked out that he was supposed to say to make things better. The look on his face told me otherwise. "Is he dead?" was my next inquiry. You see, at this point, he was supposed to tell me that everything was OK. He was supposed to assure me that perhaps my daddy had been hurt in an accident, but he would be just fine. He was supposed to answer the way I wanted him to answer.

It wasn't to be that way. My dear husband just began to cry and nod his head. I couldn't even fathom what he was telling me. All I could do was sob uncontrollably and I kept yelling over and over. "You are NOT telling me this!", "This is NOT happening".

I wanted to go back and have a do-over. I wanted to go back to sleep and wake up again to different circumstances. I wanted the words to go back into my husbands mouth and come out differently.

My precious daddy, at age 58, had suffered a massive heart attack at home and had gone to be with Jesus. He had been on his morning walk. He had finished his daily bible reading. He had been about to walk out the door to go to work and God called his name. My precious mother tried everything she could as she called 911, but it wasn't to be. God was ready for him. At 54, she became a widow.

I was 32 years old. That was the absolute worst day of my life. I would never in a million years want to go back and experience that very hurt again. I miss my daddy as much today as I did 15 years ago. The hurt is easier to deal with, but the pain is the same.

The only thing that has gotten me through is my Savior.

I draw my strength from Him.
I cling to the promise of His Word.
I rest in the shadow of His wings.
I call unto Him in my distress and He answers me.

He is my rock and my salvation. I can rest in the promise of Salvation. I know that my daddy is waiting in heaven. I know that one day I will see his precious face again. I know that he is with the Lord.

I love you daddy and I miss you like crazy.

When the unthinkable happens

Sometimes things happen that are nothing short of tragic. They are unthinkable. They are unimaginable. They are horrifying. The very thought of them take our breath away. Yet they occur and people have to go through things that most of us can’t even bear the thought of.

Death is the ultimate fear to most of us. Not just death, but death of our loved ones. Death of our parents. Death of our spouse. Death of our children.

I’ve heard people say that they can handle anything except the death of their child. I have said it myself. I have known many people that have experienced this. I have seen firsthand the devastation that takes place in the lives of the parents who have buried their children. It is something that I don’t even like to think about. To me, it is the unthinkable.

Truth is, it happens every day. We just don’t have to face it every day because it doesn’t always touch our lives. We can distance ourselves from it when it doesn’t directly affect the piece of the world that we live in. But when it happens in your town - to people you know - the reality slaps you right in the face. The pain becomes evident. The hurting lives become real.

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

I can’t image a life without the presence of God. A life that doesn’t know a refuge named Jesus. I have no idea how anyone makes it through any type of trial without the safety and security of God’s arms. If I don’t know anything else but the amazing fact that God loves me, that is enough. The Lord is our comfort. He is our Peace. He is our hope. He loves us.

After church yesterday, my husband got a phone call. A young man that we have known for many years had just experienced the unthinkable. His precious little 19-month old baby boy was gone. An afternoon of family and fun outside took a sharp turn to tragedy in just a flash. Kids outside playing. Dad moving the truck around back to wash it. In one brief, unchangeable moment, lives were forever altered. A nightmare had begun. A nightmare that they won’t wake up from.

How do you console someone when there is no consolation? How do you tell a parent that they’ll get through this when they don’t want to get through it? How do you ever recover from this type of devastation? How do you go on?

Jesus. That’s how. He is the only way that anyone can make it through the tragic events that life throws at us. He is the one who can turn our sorrow into joy. He can comfort our souls. He can carry our burden. He give us hope. He gives us eternal life. He is the one who will reunite us with our loved ones in heaven.

I am asking for prayers to be lifted up for this precious family. Carl and Jessica will be doing the hardest thing in their lives tomorrow. They will bury their precious child. Please cry out on their behalf as well as for their families. There are hurting grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. Please be in much prayer for my husband and the other pastor who will be doing the funeral together.

There is a need for a salvation in this family. One of the parents is a Christian - a very new Christian. The other is lost. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to minister and convict and draw this soul to Christ.

Precious Lord, may I keep my hope, trust and faith in you. You are my Lord. You are my Savior. You are my comfort.

In His grip of grace,
Beth