True story of a tragic accident and the gracious, forgiving response by young parents.
It was September 9, 1981. Clark and Vicki Sheldon had just moved to this area [Ledgewood, New Jersey]. They were living out of a motel because they hadn’t found a house. As they stopped at a red light on Route 46 in Dover, a station wagon barreled down on them at a high rate of speed. His license had been revoked. The second time. The driver had a long history of drug use, but he wasn’t on drugs that day. Perhaps his mind was thinking about his crumbling marriage. No one will ever know.
What we do know is that his station wagon hit the Sheldon’s car so hard they flipped over into the intersection. The hatchback flew open and their two young daughters were ejected. Very young – Katy was 2, and Lyndsi was 3. Both were killed.
The funeral service was held at Ledgewood Baptist. They didn’t know anyone in town, but the accident was so tragic the church was packed. Everyone who was there remembers only one detail of the service, but they remember it perfectly. The Sheldons, both still recovering from injuries, got up and spoke to the congregation. They said they believed it was all part of God’s plan. Just as their daughters used to bounce in the back seat of the car, they were now bouncing in heaven, with God was taking care of them.
And they wanted everyone there to forgive the young man for what had happened. They said they held no bad feelings for him. After the service, they got on with their lives.
The reaction of the people I have talked to was that the Sheldons must have been real Christians. And more than a little nuts. Several felt it was almost obscene to forgive their girls’ killer.
What do you think? In their situation, what would YOU do? As a Christian, what SHOULD you do?
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About nine months later the state prosecuted the young man on the charge of “vehicular manslaughter.” It was the first time New Jersey had done this. In the end, the jury found him not guilty, but convicted him of “death by auto” instead. He served a year in prison and was released.
He told his sister-in-law that he had changed the things in himself that had caused the accident. He quit drugs, and changed his devil-may-care attitude. He goes to Alcoholics Anonymous three or four times a week. He also stops by the Dover Soup Kitchen and helps out, and talks to addicts at the Hope House.
His family was devastated and shamed by the accident. A year later, his father died of cancer. The relatives got tired of hiding, and decided to do what they could to get their good name back. The mother helps take care of quintuplets in the area. His sister-in-law got involved in community projects.
None of this will bring two little girls back to life. Only God can do this. When we forgive, we are announcing that we believe God is still in charge, that he will work things out in the end.
If you really believe in God, REALLY BELIEVE, you can extend the gift of grace, forgiveness, to those who wrong you. The Sheldons were not nuts. They just knew what it is all about.