Press Statement - Friday May 22, 2009

Since Mom’s death in 2006 my closest friends and confidants have often asked how my family incorporates such a shocking and altogether unexpected tragedy into our worldview as Christians and how a life so beautiful, and so grounded in faith, could come to such a such a horrific end.

I’ve realized over time that they ask me because they think I may know; but I don’t.

I’m not AT ALL sure why terrible things happen to good people. I don’t know exactly WHY a good and loving God would stand for weak, evil men like Michael Ledford to persecute and murder His people. It doesn’t make sense.

My friend Aaron Harris said to me one day, “Jimmy, I just don’t think we were meant to understand these things. I think God created us for something altogether different.” And I think that’s about the closest I’ve come to an answer.

So, I can’t fully satisfy my own craving to understand what happened to Mom, and why; but what I do know is this: I represent a mother and a family who believe that Jesus is EXACTLY who He said He was. My family and I know that we were put here to serve the Lord to the best of our abilities, to minister to the needs of the people around us, to lead other people into a growing relationship with Christ, and, even in the face of terrible adversities that we may never understand, to accept and follow the Lord’s guidance in our lives regardless of where He may lead us; clinging to the promise that one day we can ask Him in person.

In the meantime, I would remind you that this catastrophic and painful time in the life of my family has NEVER been about Michael Ledford, or the death penalty, or justice, or the vagueries of a complicated legal process.

It’s about the constant struggle between good and evil. It’s about a family hurt, but not vanquished and it’s about a God big enough to love, direct, and lead us down even the darkest paths. But most importantly, it’s about the amazing, extraordinary, life of the woman who raised me and taught me to read and to write, and to laugh, and to think for myself, and what’s funny, and what isn’t, and how to love and be loved, and to be strong.

The same woman who taught me life’s every little detail from hospitality, music, good food, which fork to use, and how to dance; in her final moments taught me the power of sacrifice and courage. So today, your focus should be not crime and punishment and the filthy deeds of evil men, but my brave and beautiful mother, of whom I am so VERY proud.