I've been debating starting a blog for awhile, but I didn't really expect that anyone would read it! And maybe they still won't, but I figure with all the stuff going on in my head these last few weeks, it's probably a good time to give it a try.



It's amazing how God prepares us. Not two weeks ago Paul Evans gave an incredible message at church about tragedy. Now I find myself in the midst of one. The message was moving and applicable to so many things, but never so much so in my life, until yesterday morning. It was a Tuesday morning and because I don't have lunchtime class those days, I don't have to be in to work until 10. So I was being lazy and laying on the couch when our secretary, my good buddy Laurie Walker, called with some incredibly bad news. Two of our football players had been killed in a car accident early that morning. Teirson Hollis (20) and Ryne Wilhite (19) were coming back from Tuscaloosa when they had a head-on accident with an 18 wheeler.

T. Hollis

Ryne Wilhite

I had the privilege of working with both of these young men for injuries while they played football. Both were very polite and I cannot remember a time when T didn't address me with a "Yes Ma'am".

After I got the call and headed to work I couldn't help but think about all the times those two boys did not see Jesus in me. The times I had been short with them or hadn't given them the time they probably deserved, and now I couldn't make it right. I was weighed down all day yesterday with regret for the way I SHOULD have treated these young men, and missed the chance to. Paul's message has been ringing loud in my heart that I can redeem this tragedy by allowing it to directly effect the way I treat everyone else in my life, realizing I may only get one chance to show them Jesus. The way I treat someone and the way I make them feel, could be the last encounter I have with any given person. It's a lesson I've learned before, a lesson I should already practice, but it feels the most true today.

The concept of Paul's message I really want to convey to the team is that for every small decision you make better, every person you treat just a little nicer - your family, your teammates, anyone you give just a second thought to treating better, because of these two guys - you will be redeeming their tragedy. You will redeem the pain and the emptiness you feel right now by honoring these guys in the way we grow from here. There is a really good chance that one day you will be put in a situaiton to support someone who has lost a friend or loved one, and when you draw on the experiences of this time - you will be redeeming the death of these to men. Just like every time a soul is won for Jesus, every time someone turns their life around for Him, the blood and death of Jesus is redeemed...the same is true for T and Ryne, every time their death helps you do better and be better - this tragedy is redeemed.

I hope all that made as much sense written down as it did in my head. I hope that I don't lose the impact of what I'm learning right now as time moves on. I wish I could apologize to them for letting them down and not being for them who I should have been, but I hope to use that regret to do better from here on out.