SOMEBODY YOU KNEW

"Jesus wept," (John 11:35)

There are sad and tragic stories in the news every day.  If we were to dwell on all of them, we would become crippled by hopelessness and depression and would be unable to function.  All of us hear these terrible stories but take them in stride.

But sometimes one of those terrible stories affects people you know.  Such is the case for me this week:

You may have heard a story yesterday (Tuesday, June 3) that was reported on Boston's channel 5 and also on a couple of the News/Talk radio stations in the Boston area, about a construction worker who was killed at 1:30 a.m. on Route 495 in the Lawrence, MA area.   The deceased was working on a paving crew.  A dump truck ran over him and killed him instantly.  My understanding is that the dump truck was put into reverse gear rather than forward gear and was driven by a man who was operating it under the influence of alcohol. 

The dead man was married to the 26-year-old granddaughter of a couple who have been Members of our church for many years.  Her name is Kimberley.  His name was Rob.  What the news story did not tell you is that he was killed on his birthday and that he had three little children.  According to their great-grandmother, the kids could not understand why they were not making a birthday cake for Daddy.

I've seen Kimberley a number of times when she was a child, but I really don't know her well.   I don't ever remember meeting Rob, unless he was at Kimberley's grandparents' Anniversary party that I attended in 2002.  Even so, this affects people that I care very much about.  So, for me, it wasn't just a fleeting story on the news.

Terrible tragedies happen in life.  Often there are no answers to the "whys".  In ministry you are part of life's happiest moments, but at times you are placed in the situation of trying to help people through these tragedies.

So, I'm sharing today that this construction accident affected people I know.