Loss

This evening, a kid I only had the brief privilege to know, fell into the St Joseph River and drown. He was doing what he loved to do every day – fish. It’s not often in this day and age that you meet many teenage boys who still love to go fishing, but Troy was really passionate about it. When I saw him a couple weeks ago, he was describing in great detail all of the different kinds of fish he had pulled out of his favorites spots along the St. Joseph River in Mishawaka. Corey, Robert, Troy and I had a great afternoon on Winona Lake. I took him on his first jetski ride, and as hard as I tried, I could not get him to fall off. He was pretty tenacious. Usually I have better luck that that. Jesse came over and gave us a boat ride around the lake and it was a nice sunset on a great day. After the boat we went to a music festival – enjoyed some amazingly loud concerts and just had a great time out with the guys. Troy continued to crack me up all night. He had this great personality – he was an all-American boy – floppy haired, great smile, funny, spontaneous, and so full of life. The whole way down to Winona, he and Corey were being goofy and were making me laugh so hard. They commandeered my camera and my bandana and were taking gangsta pictures of each other. It was pretty hilarious. Anyway, later, while we were on the dock waiting for Robert and Corey to come back, we talked about all kinds of stuff – where he wanted to go to college, what he thought he would do in life, football, girls, you know…those kinds of things that you talk about when you are just hanging out getting to know someone.

So now, here it is. July 11 closes with the death of a great young man. He was only 15, and he’s had a rough life, but from what I know, so many who knew him said he was such a loving kid, so full of life, surprises, and always fun. And I know that right now, there are some hurting people – his dad John, his twin brother Trevor, and his mom. I just ask everyone to join with me in prayer for their family. Pray that God would bring his perfect comfort in the middle of a situation where it makes no sense – where a son, a brother, and a friend was taken so suddenly. I pray that angels would surround them with their ministry of peace and hope, and that no guilt or feelings of self condemnation would occur. And to those friends of his who tried to save him in the end, I pray that they will find peace and understanding too. Troy, many people will be missing you, and I pray that you are safe in the arms of Jesus right now buddy.