When I was in the eighth grade, I got a text from my best friend while sitting in the deer stand one afternoon that a senior from Valdosta High School had gone missing that morning. I’m not going to lie, when I first got the text I knew that it was sad and unfortunate, but I really didn’t think much of it at the time. People go missing every day, and usually, the whole thing is just a big misunderstanding and that person rolls back up and laughs at the fact that everybody was freaking out because they didn’t know he was going to a friend’s house after school. It wasn’t until the next day that I heard the whole story and saw how many people were being affected by it.
His name was James and he was in his 12th-grade year of high school. He was a well-known football and baseball player, but being that I was only in the 8th-grade and not quite in the same school as him, I wasn’t completely aware of how popular James was. When I say “popular,” I don’t mean that the ladies crawled all over him constantly or that he always hosted the big house parties. James was a very open and strong-hearted believer in Christ, and according to everyone I’ve ever heard speak of him, he lived it out in every single thing he did.
For those of you who don’t know his story, James went missing while duck hunting with a friend of his. Because it’s such a common and fun boy sport, we don’t think much of it being dangerous, but now we have a totally different outlook on the sport itself and how much more delicate we should take our “bye, see you later's." The search for James went on for days and days. Some started to give up hope, but his friends and family never did. Finally, after a two-week or so search, James was found. He drowned when his waders filled with water that day duck hunting.
When I was 18-years-old, I was laying in my bed one night when I got a text from the same friend who told me about James.
“One of the boys at the baseball game got hit in the head with a ball and is being rushed to the hospital.”
Once again, I didn’t think much of it. Everyone gets injured and usually they pull through. This was before I knew how severe the hit was. At first, I thought it was someone on the opposing team, and later I found out that it was this sweet 9th-grader named Colton that went to my school. Colton was rushed to the hospital and had to undergo intensive care, and it was not looking good. If I remember correctly, this happened on a Wednesday night. As all of this was going on, some friends that attended school with me arranged a prayer circle for everyone to attend that next morning before school. I wasn’t all that close to Colton. I just remember seeing him at the varsity baseball games, and I use to think he was the cutest little booger ever. But some of the 9th-grade girls and boys I knew were extremely close with him, so I was for sure going to be at the prayer circle if it was the last thing I did. Thursday morning at school was probably one of the darkest of days at Valdosta High School, but it was also one of the most beautiful. An unbelievable amount of people showed up to the prayer circle at 7am, and at that point, no one cared if you knew Colton well or not. Everyone was just super thankful we were all there together, safe.
Just recently, I got word through social media that a bus belonging to Valdosta’s crosstown rival’s school system had been in a tragic accident on the interstate while taking kid’s home. Immediately, I also found out that a young girl named Rebecca had been killed during it. I didn’t hear much else the story, but when I saw her picture later on, I recognized her from somewhere but couldn’t place where from. A day or two later, my mom (who taught elementary school for 30 years) informed me that she taught Rebecca when she was in the second grade, and out of all the kids my mom has ever taught, I distinctly remember her. I use to have to go to my mom’s classroom after I got out of school sometimes, and some of her students would still be there. I just remember Rebecca was the sweetest little redhead who didn’t say much, but you could tell she had such a big heart for an 8-year-old.
As sad as it is, they usually warn you when you enter high school that these kinds of tragedies are going to happen. It is likely that someone you know and go to school with will go on to be with their father way sooner than we think they should, but I just struggle with trying to figure out why this happens to the most innocent of people. I remember when James passed away, and my dad and I were talking it over. I just remember my dad tearing up about the whole thing as he was saying, “Why was it him? Why wasn’t it me? I’ve lived my life. I’ve gotten married. I’ve had two daughters. I’ve sinned relentlessly, and he hasn’t even gotten the time to do so. Why doesn’t God take people like me instead?” These kinds of thoughts ran through my mind when Colton passed away and again when Rebecca did. These kids were 14 and 15-years-old. They never got to freak their parents out in the car when they were learning to drive. They never got to have a real first date or a first kiss. They never got to graduate and go to college. Why did God let me have all those things but not them? I guarantee they all lived their lives better than I have, so why isn’t it me?
I know these questions of mine will never be answered; mine and everyone else’s. We won’t ever know why God decides to take who He wants when He wants, but we are told to trust in Him. I think there is one common thing that makes all these tragedies beautiful in their own way though. James, Colton, and Rebecca made so many people grow closer together. Our entire community came together in one way or another, whether it was selling t-shirts to raise money for the families or painting up for a football game to show love and support for a school in heartache. After witnessing the amazing things that can happen from something so terrible, I think I’ve now realized that this is why God does what He does. I’m still a little confused on “who” He decides to take, but I’m going to try my best not to question it. I am not God. I don’t know what is best for us on Earth, but we have to trust that He does or we will never make it as humans. I wish we would never have to experience the aftermath of death, but sometimes that’s just what it takes for the Lord to get his point across.
My heart still hurts enormously for those directly affected by all these tragedies, and I wish nothing but love to them all. I can’t imagine the pain they had to endure and still are enduring. I wasn’t even that close to James, Colton, or Rebecca and I was a mess because I just didn’t understand. Nobody should have to go through these kinds of things, but it’s just something that happens. The good news is, pain doesn’t last forever, the sun is going to come out tomorrow, and the Lord will give us reassurance in time.
