Opinion article by Eric Horton
As a lot of you know tragedy struck a family and a community this past Monday. Wes Woodard, a senior at Meadow High School was killed in an auto accident just west of the school in Meadow.
As I write this and remember being close to the actual scene of the accident and finding out who the person was in the burned vehicle, my soul was crushed. It hurt bad. I began to think about his family Jody, Kathryn, and Kyle and then I began to think about Wes’s classmates, which by the way, that senior class is pretty tight-knit.
I know this young man. I’ve had conversations with Wes. Such a kind young man, a smart kid, an athletic kid, he was a caring fella, very respectful! He was friends with several… he had a future ahead of him.
What did this all mean? Asking the Lord, why him and why now? Of course, nobody knows that answer except God Almighty. As we sat there in disbelief we saw Jody pull up with a friend of his driving him. I was able to go talk to Jody, give him our condolences, and let him know we are praying for him, his family, and the community of Meadow.
Here at TownTalk, Jody, Wes’s father, was recently one of our Terry County Community Spotlights. Jody is a man of God, humble, smart, and easygoing. Personally, I’ve never in my life seen a person hold themself together like I did with Jody on Monday evening. Maybe shock, maybe he knows where his faith lies, maybe the idea he is the man of the house and he must be put together for his wife and now an only child. I don’t know for a fact, however, that is for Jody to tell.
My wife and I went up to the school in Meadow, and on the south & southeast side of the old school building, there were a lot of people standing in different groups, hugging, crying, and simply being there for the Woodards and the community. I look around and I’m in awe of all the love and support that is being poured out to a family and a community. Grown men crying, coaches crying, women crying, teenagers crying, kids crying.
We live in a time where it seems all is lost. We see a lot of hate, vitriol, and so on… and when something like this happens, it brings things into perspective. Yes, every one of us has problems, nobody is immune. But for that moment in time, all that was put aside for a grieving family and community.
Living in rural America, we see things differently. We are hard workers, we have grit, we rally together, we support one another, and for most of us… our faith in Christ holds us together whether it be individually or as a community. I believe we are the true backbone of America. However, knowing who we are and what we stand for, situations still happen.
The Word of God tells us in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The devil is trying his best to plant seeds of doubt and lies in us and he trying to fight against your faith in Christ. I always remind the enemy of God’s everlasting love by quoting Romans 8:31 which says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Before we left Meadow, everyone there, and I mean everyone, made a circle and a man led us all in a prayer for the Woodards and the community. One thing he said that was so true, is we have hope in Christ. 1 Timothy 4:10 tells us, “This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.”
Although tragedy struck, we must trust in, wait for, look to, and desire Jesus. That is what hope is all about. In the next several days and months there is a family and classmates who will need our encouragement. They will need our support, respect, and love… also to show them and others the hope we have in Christ.
