This is a post I never wanted to need to contemplate. Yesterday, our small community, close knit students, and the brother/sisterhood of a "team" lost 2 beloved comrades. We are hurting. We are angry. We are confused. We are sad. We are remembering. We don't want to be forgetting. And one of those is my own son. Who cares if I graduated from Bible School? Who cares that I have been involved in ministry for 25 years? Who cares that I am married to a pastor? I am still struggling with how to talk to/pray with my family to ensure they are comforted and not callused. I have uttered many "mini" prayers over the last several hours and I still don't know if I have any answers, but I'm going to start with 3 simple prayers.
1. Help them: Lord, help them get up everyday and acknowledge You. Help them see You and Your plan at every turn. Help them feel an indescribable, yet undeniable peace in their thoughts, emotions, and actions. Help them make good decisions in this time when they are questioning their values and setting standards for their future.Help them consider, in a way that solidifies, their belief and reliance on You at their Rock of Salvation.
2. Hold them: Lord, hold our students together when they feel like they are falling apart. I once had a dream that someone literally fell apart and was so soundly reassured that one must fall apart in order to be put back together the way God intends. Hold their world together when they sit in a broken classroom, when they dress in a quiet locker room, when they walk an expecting football/softball field. Hold them sound in the shelter of your wing of protection.
3. Heal them: Lord, heal our broken hearts. Let them bear a scar that proclaims a whole heart while providing a testimony of an event that altered their lives forever. Heal that heart to love and not push away out of fear. Heal their confusion for you are the Father of a SOUND MIND. Heal any prior wounds that would become a wedge between those who need to rely on each other at this time. Heal their minds to allow memories that will encourage and not torment..
Lord, please show me how to help him find a light of joy in this dark time. Show me how to hold him (even though he is 17 years old) where he doesn't feel smothered, but "mothered." Show me how to heal him through my words of encouragement and my unconditional love.
I also want to share another blog with you written by one of the students in this class. It is fantastic!
http://acupofcoffeewithjesus.weebly.com/
Please pray for our families of all of those involved in this loss, our students, our coaches, our students, our community. We greatly appreciate you.
Tori
