Jesse

Tonight was easily the hardest thing we've ever had to say to Madison, and perhaps the hardest thing she'd ever have to hear.  We love her deeply, and for that reason, whenever she is hurting, we too feel a great deal of pain.

Pastor Lance gave Daddy the night off so we can be with Madison, and tell her the awful news:  her friend Jesse had passed away.

We did the best we could, but this was gut-wrenching, soul crushing, and any other terrible description you can come up with.  Mommy and Daddy were in tears last night when we heard about it, so how could we expect any less from Madison?  She was broken, and though the plan was to go to church tonight, we gave her the choice of what to do, and the decision was to stay home.  She got a bath.  She spent some time alone in her bedroom.  And she grieved.  We watched some television tonight, some "Kickin' It," because there were laughs.  But it was a supremely hard night.

We made the framed picture you see above, and it's there on her nightstand.  In the coming days, there'll be a funeral, and she'll have an option to go or not.  It'll take some time to get over this one, for all of us.  The taekwondo family is shaken to its core, as are those of us that remember him from KidPak.

We remember the roles all of us played in getting him to Summer Xtreme last year.  Madison invited him, and Daddy pushed to have him registered into a full camp, while another person sponsored him. At the camp, Tucker was his group leader and Bart, his taekwondo instructor, was the one who preached the message that brought Jesse to the altar during a call for salvation.  It all lined up, everyone playing their part to get him to the altar.  He's in heaven now, and this is our only glimmer of peace tonight.  God gave us this peace, and we pray that Madison feels an abundance of that peace that passes all understanding in the coming days.