Our Journey Though Faith
If you didn’t know our story, you would think that June 20th, the day we lost our son and brother, was the day that changed our lives forever. Even though that day would infinitely be the most devastating day of our lives, June 10th, 2015, was the day that transposed what would become our new journey, our journey of faith in our Comforter, our Lord Jesus Christ.
On the morning of June 10th, David got a phone call from our son, JD. “Daddy, I’ve been in a wreck.” Of course his emotions were many. He went from feeling relieved, to frustrated, to afraid, and back to relieved. JD was driving home from a friend’s house when he reached down to grab his phone, losing control of his truck. He woke up in a deep ditch, with a badly banged up face, and a truck that was totaled. Needless to say, we were thanking God that he was ok. David sent a tow truck after JD and his truck. When our son arrived home, I literally became sick to my stomach. I opened our front door and greeted my son. However, I could only remember one thing that transpired during the next few minutes. I remember taking a picture of his face. I took the picture in hopes that JD would look at it and think before using his phone while driving.
Later in the day, his daddy came home from work and took JD to go and find out what they were going to do about his truck. David spoke to him about how God had spared his life for a reason. They had an in-depth conversation about JD’s relationship with God. God is a name that is mentioned a lot in our house. We referenced Him when we talked to JD and Hannah about things that would happen in their lives because, after all, everything that happens is in God’s will.
When JD returned home from being with his daddy, I remember vividly the events that transpired. He came to my bed where I was lying down, and we talked. This talk was not the usual, “Son, you have got to be careful and think about what you’re doing.” Those talks always ended up with us angry at each other. This talk was me being able to speak calmly with our son about his walk with the Lord. He was very receptive to our conversation, as he had more questions than usual. He, like most teenagers, had some things going on in his life that bothered him. He talked to me about them and asked me why these particular things couldn’t work. I simply said, “Because that is not God’s will for your life.” We talked some more, I hugged him tightly, and he went upstairs to rest. However, if you knew JD at all, you knew he didn’t rest. He went upstairs and began texting friends and tweeting on Twitter.
It would not be until after his death that his daddy and I realized that we both had talked to JD again about his faith in Jesus, our Savior, and what JD had done because of his relationship with our God. He had been baptized when he was 10 years old. He believed Jesus died a cruel death for our sins. He had faith in our Redeemer, but like all of us, he had times in his life where he had sinned. Being a parent who has lost a child, our worst fear was whether or not JD really knew God personally. We believe that through the love of Jesus Christ, JD was sure about God’s presence. God Himself laid it out for us to see in JD’s own words.
On Saturday, June 20th, JD was getting packed and ready to drive to Statesboro to spend the night with some of his teammates because he had a baseball meeting very early Sunday morning. His dream to pitch for the Georgia Southern Eagles was finally coming true. JD and I were the only ones home since his daddy and Hannah were visiting his grandparents, where JD would later go and tell everyone goodbye. Before he left our house he was dancing around, throwing a piece of clothing or two in his bag, playing with our dog, and talking with me. He finally got everything he needed together, and he was ready to leave. He grabbed his one bag and threw it over his shoulder. He gave me some directions on how to carry his XBox console and his games. We were going to move the rest of his things into his new home away from home the next day, Father’s Day. He hugged and kissed me goodbye. We said our “I love yous.” I said, “Be careful and text me when you get there.” He then traveled to his grandparents’ house, told everyone he loved them, hugged them, and told them goodbye. Of course, at that time we didn’t realize that we would never hug or talk to JD again while he was alive. And he would never live out his dream of pitching for The Eagles. He never made it to Statesboro.
JD was killed in an automobile accident at mile marker 19 in Ludowici around 2:30 that day. I received a call from one of JD’s friends telling me that David and I needed to get to Ludowici quickly. I then received another call telling us to go straight to Memorial Hospital in Savannah. JD was alive and responsive, but he had to be airlifted out. That ride was the longest and most sickening ride of our lives, and I was in pain. I mentioned to David several times that my knees were killing me, and I felt sick. Of course I would feel sick; my child was hit by a log truck and airlifted to a hospital. It had to be bad. I wouldn’t understand my knee pain until weeks after his death.
David and I arrived at the hospital and were sent to a room by ourselves until the staff could find out some information about JD. I asked David to pray. We knelt down and prayed. David’s prayer was something like, “God be with the doctors who are working on JD. Please don’t allow JD to be in any pain and let him know that we are here.” We got up and just sat in silence. Although it was silent, we continued to pray in our heads for God to take care of our son. Later I learned that David had asked God to take JD if he wouldn’t be coming back to us as the JD we had raised. He was so full of life. He was rambunctious, funny, and his personality could light up the night sky. He didn’t want him back if he was living in pain or in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Looking back, I wouldn’t either and neither would JD.
We were then taken to a surgical waiting area where so many church members, family, and friends from our community and surrounding communities would join us. A security guard came to get us to tell us that doctors needed to speak to us. David grabbed my hand, and we walked in silence. David could only utter the words, “This is not good.” Upon sitting in a small room, the doctors came in to tell us that JD did not make it. The impact of the crash had crushed his internal organs, and the only reason he was responsive at the scene was because the steering wheel of the car was pressing against his chest and abdomen area, basically holding him together. I sat there in silence until our daughter Hannah got there, and I had to comfort her. After about an hour David thanked everyone for coming and prayed. He prayed for the people who had come to comfort us and for blessing us with JD for 18 years.
Going back to our question about JD’s faith in Jesus as his Savior, we found our answers. This question was answered by JD’s own Twitter page. After his wreck on June 10th, he began tweeting tweets that read, “Feeling real blessed today”, with the praying hands emoji. He also tweeted the one that most of Wayne and surrounding counties are familiar with, “God’s got me” with the praying hands emoji. But, there was also another tweet that allowed us to be absolutely sure that God was always in JD’s thoughts. On June 17th, just three days before his death, he tweeted, “Everything happens a certain way because God wants it a certain way” with the 100 percent emoji. By placing that 100 percent emoji, we knew that JD believed in His Lord and Savior and that he was covered by the Lamb’s blood. JD was alive and well and living in Heaven!
The other question to be answered was why my knees were hurting so badly because they stopped hurting after we were told of his death. I received my answer in the mail in the form of a hospital bill that had one of the procedures that was done on JD listed. The procedure was an Intraosseous Infusion. This is where fluids were placed in his knee socket to get medicines in him more quickly. I believe God allowed me to take some of JD’s pain that day. What greater being could allow a mother to take pain for their child? There is no other. Surely, we live with other questions and what ifs, but God continues to answer them as they arise.
Our journey without JD has hurt us to the inner core of our being. A part of our heart is missing and we ache to hear his voice, see his smile, and hold him in our arms. But thankfully we know that there will be a day when we see him again. It has been and will continue to be our hope that through our loss, more people will come to know Jesus Christ. And when they do, they too can say the words with a faithful heart that gives our family comfort. They, like JD, can say, “God’s got me”.
If you didn’t know our story, you would think that June 20th, the day we lost our son and brother, was the day that changed our lives forever. Even though that day would infinitely be the most devastating day of our lives, June 10th, 2015, was the day that transposed what would become our new journey, our journey of faith in our Comforter, our Lord Jesus Christ.
On the morning of June 10th, David got a phone call from our son, JD. “Daddy, I’ve been in a wreck.” Of course his emotions were many. He went from feeling relieved, to frustrated, to afraid, and back to relieved. JD was driving home from a friend’s house when he reached down to grab his phone, losing control of his truck. He woke up in a deep ditch, with a badly banged up face, and a truck that was totaled. Needless to say, we were thanking God that he was ok. David sent a tow truck after JD and his truck. When our son arrived home, I literally became sick to my stomach. I opened our front door and greeted my son. However, I could only remember one thing that transpired during the next few minutes. I remember taking a picture of his face. I took the picture in hopes that JD would look at it and think before using his phone while driving.
Later in the day, his daddy came home from work and took JD to go and find out what they were going to do about his truck. David spoke to him about how God had spared his life for a reason. They had an in-depth conversation about JD’s relationship with God. God is a name that is mentioned a lot in our house. We referenced Him when we talked to JD and Hannah about things that would happen in their lives because, after all, everything that happens is in God’s will.
When JD returned home from being with his daddy, I remember vividly the events that transpired. He came to my bed where I was lying down, and we talked. This talk was not the usual, “Son, you have got to be careful and think about what you’re doing.” Those talks always ended up with us angry at each other. This talk was me being able to speak calmly with our son about his walk with the Lord. He was very receptive to our conversation, as he had more questions than usual. He, like most teenagers, had some things going on in his life that bothered him. He talked to me about them and asked me why these particular things couldn’t work. I simply said, “Because that is not God’s will for your life.” We talked some more, I hugged him tightly, and he went upstairs to rest. However, if you knew JD at all, you knew he didn’t rest. He went upstairs and began texting friends and tweeting on Twitter.
It would not be until after his death that his daddy and I realized that we both had talked to JD again about his faith in Jesus, our Savior, and what JD had done because of his relationship with our God. He had been baptized when he was 10 years old. He believed Jesus died a cruel death for our sins. He had faith in our Redeemer, but like all of us, he had times in his life where he had sinned. Being a parent who has lost a child, our worst fear was whether or not JD really knew God personally. We believe that through the love of Jesus Christ, JD was sure about God’s presence. God Himself laid it out for us to see in JD’s own words.
On Saturday, June 20th, JD was getting packed and ready to drive to Statesboro to spend the night with some of his teammates because he had a baseball meeting very early Sunday morning. His dream to pitch for the Georgia Southern Eagles was finally coming true. JD and I were the only ones home since his daddy and Hannah were visiting his grandparents, where JD would later go and tell everyone goodbye. Before he left our house he was dancing around, throwing a piece of clothing or two in his bag, playing with our dog, and talking with me. He finally got everything he needed together, and he was ready to leave. He grabbed his one bag and threw it over his shoulder. He gave me some directions on how to carry his XBox console and his games. We were going to move the rest of his things into his new home away from home the next day, Father’s Day. He hugged and kissed me goodbye. We said our “I love yous.” I said, “Be careful and text me when you get there.” He then traveled to his grandparents’ house, told everyone he loved them, hugged them, and told them goodbye. Of course, at that time we didn’t realize that we would never hug or talk to JD again while he was alive. And he would never live out his dream of pitching for The Eagles. He never made it to Statesboro.
JD was killed in an automobile accident at mile marker 19 in Ludowici around 2:30 that day. I received a call from one of JD’s friends telling me that David and I needed to get to Ludowici quickly. I then received another call telling us to go straight to Memorial Hospital in Savannah. JD was alive and responsive, but he had to be airlifted out. That ride was the longest and most sickening ride of our lives, and I was in pain. I mentioned to David several times that my knees were killing me, and I felt sick. Of course I would feel sick; my child was hit by a log truck and airlifted to a hospital. It had to be bad. I wouldn’t understand my knee pain until weeks after his death.
David and I arrived at the hospital and were sent to a room by ourselves until the staff could find out some information about JD. I asked David to pray. We knelt down and prayed. David’s prayer was something like, “God be with the doctors who are working on JD. Please don’t allow JD to be in any pain and let him know that we are here.” We got up and just sat in silence. Although it was silent, we continued to pray in our heads for God to take care of our son. Later I learned that David had asked God to take JD if he wouldn’t be coming back to us as the JD we had raised. He was so full of life. He was rambunctious, funny, and his personality could light up the night sky. He didn’t want him back if he was living in pain or in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Looking back, I wouldn’t either and neither would JD.
We were then taken to a surgical waiting area where so many church members, family, and friends from our community and surrounding communities would join us. A security guard came to get us to tell us that doctors needed to speak to us. David grabbed my hand, and we walked in silence. David could only utter the words, “This is not good.” Upon sitting in a small room, the doctors came in to tell us that JD did not make it. The impact of the crash had crushed his internal organs, and the only reason he was responsive at the scene was because the steering wheel of the car was pressing against his chest and abdomen area, basically holding him together. I sat there in silence until our daughter Hannah got there, and I had to comfort her. After about an hour David thanked everyone for coming and prayed. He prayed for the people who had come to comfort us and for blessing us with JD for 18 years.
Going back to our question about JD’s faith in Jesus as his Savior, we found our answers. This question was answered by JD’s own Twitter page. After his wreck on June 10th, he began tweeting tweets that read, “Feeling real blessed today”, with the praying hands emoji. He also tweeted the one that most of Wayne and surrounding counties are familiar with, “God’s got me” with the praying hands emoji. But, there was also another tweet that allowed us to be absolutely sure that God was always in JD’s thoughts. On June 17th, just three days before his death, he tweeted, “Everything happens a certain way because God wants it a certain way” with the 100 percent emoji. By placing that 100 percent emoji, we knew that JD believed in His Lord and Savior and that he was covered by the Lamb’s blood. JD was alive and well and living in Heaven!
The other question to be answered was why my knees were hurting so badly because they stopped hurting after we were told of his death. I received my answer in the mail in the form of a hospital bill that had one of the procedures that was done on JD listed. The procedure was an Intraosseous Infusion. This is where fluids were placed in his knee socket to get medicines in him more quickly. I believe God allowed me to take some of JD’s pain that day. What greater being could allow a mother to take pain for their child? There is no other. Surely, we live with other questions and what ifs, but God continues to answer them as they arise.
Our journey without JD has hurt us to the inner core of our being. A part of our heart is missing and we ache to hear his voice, see his smile, and hold him in our arms. But thankfully we know that there will be a day when we see him again. It has been and will continue to be our hope that through our loss, more people will come to know Jesus Christ. And when they do, they too can say the words with a faithful heart that gives our family comfort. They, like JD, can say, “God’s got me”.