Forgiveness and Love

Today has been an emotional day. Ms. Sarah Gillespe was hit by a drunk driver yesterday evening and died. Some of you are asking who Ms. Sarah was, so let me tell you. Ms. Sarah was an amazing woman. She worked in Tiny Town for as long as I've been a member and probably a lot longer. She always had a smile. She loved the children, and more importantly they loved her. I haven't served with her in two years, yet I still remember how much fun it was just to be in the same room with her. She would tell the kids stories, hug them, and love on them as if they were her own. She always asked about my life, and the next time I saw her no matter how much time had passed she would always ask about the specifics I had told her before. She was a true servant of God.

Seeing how wonderful Ms. Sarah was, can you imagine the anger that is felt knowing she was killed by a drunk driver? It would be so easy to want to lash out as some have already done on the news sites. Yet I can not. God calls us to forgive. He calls us to love. Some days it is so hard. To know that my son will not grow up and learn about Christ's love from Ms. Sarah's example, it makes it even harder. To know that I won't get to pass her and stop to talk in Tiny Town. To not hear her comment on Alex's growth. It hurts.

Yet God has a plan, and His plan is so much bigger than I can even fathom. So my prayers are for the family of the man who drove drunk. I pray for his wife who is suffering knowing her husband did such a thing. For the kids who grow up under the stigma of having a drunk dad who killed. I pray that our church shows them Christ's love, that we support them and help them as they go through this. Most of all, I pray for the man who was behind the wheel. I pray for when he is sober and realizes what has been done by his hands, he does not let the guilt and shame eat him alive. I pray he finds strength and salvation in Jesus. That his life becomes a reflection of God's glory and mercy. I know how hard this will be on him and I pray he knows God loves him, and sent His son to die for him.

Most of all, I pray for myself and for my church family who are missing Ms. Sarah. I pray we grow more loving in all this, that we remind ourselves how Ms. Sarah was, and how she is now. Beautiful. Rejoicing. And I'm sure God's got her loving on all the children who have been brought home to Him.