My youth pastor committed suicide.
Let it sink in.
My.
Youth.
Pastor.
Committed.
Suicide.
He was my youth pastor in junior high, then an intern came in and took over and they Young's left shortly after. At least this is how I remember it, but I could have some dates/times a bit cloudy. We were all so happy for Thomas Young and his family. They were the nicest, sweetest, people I'd ever met at a church and I remember Erin had really long hair and was soft spoken. I also remember thinking that 'church people' at this church were really nice and I wanted to come back. The Young's were the first Christian couple I'd ever witnessed as putting the words "Christian" and "couple" to. So this is what Christian marriages look like. Hmmm...
Thomas (and I still refer to him as Thomas because that's what I knew him by) was so loud and outspoken. He would get loud and excited on Wednesday night's youth group and was totally on fire for God. This guy, was, like, super duper Godly. Those are technical junior high words for you.
I contribute a majority of my 'baby Christian' days to the initial 'church people' I knew. I only knew VBS people, then I knew the Young's, then I started coming on Sunday mornings. From there, I grew in my walk with Christ exponentially and I sought the wisdom of my teachers. Basically, forget the kids, I want to hang out with these grown ups because they seem to have it together. (Ps: my high school Sunday school teacher reads my blog) :).
I remember when the Young's left I totally had a wall built up to 'the new guy'. He was a total dude and was single. Bor-ing.
About three years ago I tried to look up the Young family and sent his ministry an email saying thank you for being such an amazing role model and I look forward to seeing them again if our lives should ever cross paths. I never did receive a reply or acknowledgement that it was forwarded onto Thomas.
Recently, when Kendall and I moved our family to Texas last winter I met up with people from way back and asked about the Young's. It was a somber moment and I later read an article about it on Thomas' website.
But, I thought Christian's don't take their own lives. Isn't that a huge sin (a sin is a sin, is a sin, no worse than stealing a ballpoint pen)? I've heard suicide means you go straight to hell (not true).
I think my dear friend, after losing her brother, says it so well:
The devil is such a thief.
I think about his wife and children from time to time, such at moments like these. All things work for the glory of God, right? Man oh man it's a hard one to swallow sometimes. My heart breaks for them.
Let it sink in.
My.
Youth.
Pastor.
Committed.
Suicide.
He was my youth pastor in junior high, then an intern came in and took over and they Young's left shortly after. At least this is how I remember it, but I could have some dates/times a bit cloudy. We were all so happy for Thomas Young and his family. They were the nicest, sweetest, people I'd ever met at a church and I remember Erin had really long hair and was soft spoken. I also remember thinking that 'church people' at this church were really nice and I wanted to come back. The Young's were the first Christian couple I'd ever witnessed as putting the words "Christian" and "couple" to. So this is what Christian marriages look like. Hmmm...
Thomas (and I still refer to him as Thomas because that's what I knew him by) was so loud and outspoken. He would get loud and excited on Wednesday night's youth group and was totally on fire for God. This guy, was, like, super duper Godly. Those are technical junior high words for you.
I contribute a majority of my 'baby Christian' days to the initial 'church people' I knew. I only knew VBS people, then I knew the Young's, then I started coming on Sunday mornings. From there, I grew in my walk with Christ exponentially and I sought the wisdom of my teachers. Basically, forget the kids, I want to hang out with these grown ups because they seem to have it together. (Ps: my high school Sunday school teacher reads my blog) :).
I remember when the Young's left I totally had a wall built up to 'the new guy'. He was a total dude and was single. Bor-ing.
About three years ago I tried to look up the Young family and sent his ministry an email saying thank you for being such an amazing role model and I look forward to seeing them again if our lives should ever cross paths. I never did receive a reply or acknowledgement that it was forwarded onto Thomas.
Recently, when Kendall and I moved our family to Texas last winter I met up with people from way back and asked about the Young's. It was a somber moment and I later read an article about it on Thomas' website.
But, I thought Christian's don't take their own lives. Isn't that a huge sin (a sin is a sin, is a sin, no worse than stealing a ballpoint pen)? I've heard suicide means you go straight to hell (not true).
I think my dear friend, after losing her brother, says it so well:
The devil is such a thief.
I think about his wife and children from time to time, such at moments like these. All things work for the glory of God, right? Man oh man it's a hard one to swallow sometimes. My heart breaks for them.
Suicide is not an easy thing to deal with....Your dear friend has it right! Dan's cousin's husband just committed suicide because he thought he had no way out....they were going to loose their house, his contracting job ended - it looked like there was no hope. Two days after he killed himself he got a better job offer. TWO DAYS!!! Dan and I were in that same situation not two years before, so glad Satan did not steal that from us! God is in control about everything we just have to look to him and not give up. Will pray for his family because I am sure it is still raw to them! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteoh wow. I'm so sorry.
ReplyDelete