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"Marked for Life"...Indeed Finding healing after facing tragedy by Nikki Rutz Several months ago, my husband and I had the unique opportunity to host in our home the touring band, Casting Pearls, and a Columbine tragedy survivor, Crystal Woodman Miller. Crystal was traveling with Casting Pearls to give her testimony to various audiences across our nation at the time. Over chips and queso, she shared with us her story and gave us a copy of her book, "Marked for Life." I was awestruck by how she had processed the tragedy she experienced. She was very open and real about how hard it had been to deal with what had happened. But I was also amazed by her courage and willingness to share her experience so that others might find healing through Christ in their own lives. To hear her story and the aftermath gave me a glimpse of the horror that one experiences in such a tragedy. I have never forgotten how she looked when recounting what happened at her school. Her eyes told us that she was, indeed, marked for life. It's no surprise, then, that my heart was immediately crushed upon learning of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech University. Only this time, it felt personal. I had just spoken at a college women's retreat there at the end of January. As I made contact with one of the BCM interns on campus, I could hear the heavy sorrow in her voice and the fear that someone they knew might have been a victim. Later, I learned that one of their students had been a victim – losing his life in the tragedy. Pictures of students' faces filled my mind. My heart aches for what they are experiencing. In my closet, I have a Virginia Tech t-shirt and sweatshirt that were given to me when I was there. I now look at these items with a prayerful heart — they are a reminder to me of the need for God's endless comfort in the days to come. Knowing Crystal's story, I now see a long road ahead of my friends at Virginia Tech ... a road that is long, yes, but that will eventually find true healing. In times of the unexplainable (such as a gunman shooting down students on a campus), I find great comfort in knowing that God is not surprised by what surprises me. It gives me peace to acknowledge that He is bigger than the world we live in and that He has already conquered the pain that we experience. In what does not make sense, God's sovereignty does make sense. In what seems to never heal, God actually does heal. Why do you say, O Jacob, Crystal titled her book "Marked for Life" because she knew that what she had endured would forever change the way that she lives and views life. I have not experienced what she experienced nor endured what the students of Virginia Tech are now enduring. But I do take great comfort in knowing that although their lives will be forever "marked," God will work in this for some greater purpose than we can see at this moment. I marvel at the healing that I know He will bring and I'm thankful for the peace He already gives. I find reassurance in knowing that He "gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength." |
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