September 15, 1999.
14 years 10 months and 12 days ago.
One moment.
One action.
A generation of student's lives would never be the same.
I was supposed to be there that night. I later dealt with that fact in both guilt and humility.
It was supposed to be a Wednesday night for the record books. It was "See You At The Pole" day (a day each year in the US and across the world on which students gather around the flag pole at their schools to pray). We had all prayed at our schools that morning, and we were REALLY looking forward to the gathering of Christian students that was to happen that night. I was one of the people who helped organize that our youth group would go to this event, being that I was the one who brought the idea to our youth pastor and convinced him to take us there, rather than to do our regular Wednesday night youth group meeting.
That evening, when my friends and I and all our extra friends (who wanted to get in on going to a big event) got to the church, we were met by some surprising news. Our youth pastor informed us that we would, in fact, not be attending this big youth conference, but instead would be doing service as usually on the church grounds. The reason we were given for this was that the Pastor of the church was overseas on a missions trip at the time and the youth pastor had not been able to get a hold of him all week to get permission for the excursion. So, the answer was simple, we could not go.
My friends and I were SO bummed out. In fact, we were quite horrible to our youth pastor that whole evening, giving him dirty looks and the silent treatment. However, all that quickly changed as we got word that something had happened. Something unthinkable. Our pastor's wife burst through the door and into the room where we were having our youth meeting, and quickly announced to us that we were to stop the meeting and begin to pray. There was a person inside a church in Fort Worth shooting the members of a service going on there. That's all we knew at that moment, and the only reason we knew at all was because one of our own church members just so happened to live across the street from the church where the shooting was happening. He was an off duty police officer, and before heading into the church to see what was going on (being the very first responder), he called our church to ask us to pray.
So we prayed. I didn't realize in those moments in which we were praying that evening exactly where this shooting was happening. When I got home that night, as I walked through the door, I knew something was not at all right. Gazing towards the TV, my whole family was silent. Entering the house, I dropped my stuff, didn't even shut the door and began to get a true revelation of what had actually happened. The headlines read "Youth Group Tragedy" and "Shooting At Youth Rally" and "Wedgwood Baptist Church Shooting". Only in that very moment did I realize, the shooting was not at some random church with some random Wednesday night faithful members. The shooting was at that rally. That "See You At The Pole" meeting that I was supposed to be at, and the same one I had begged my youth pastor to take us to. The same one we treated him so badly for NOT letting us go to.
I have to say, if any moment has ever changed my life forever...
If anything has ever left a lasting mark...
If anything sticks with me every waking breath, even unto this very day...
...it is this.
To make a very long and complicated story a little shorter and readable, I will skip to the point. There were 7 people killed and 7 injured that night by a mad man who, police say, had no motive at all for doing what he did. Two of the young people who caught his bullets that night were from my high school. Joey Ennis, a freshman just like me, was killed by a bullet to the back of his head. He would have been one of the school's shortest ever basketball stars if he had been left to live out his life.
Justin Laird had driven himself to the meeting that night. It was the first time he had ever driven alone, as it was his 16th birthday and he had only, that morning, gotten his license to drive. He was our star football player, and he never walked again after that night. A bullet to his spinal cord has left him paralyzed.
I am quite sure by now that you are touched by my story, and I am certain that you are asking yourself what the point of it is. Well, there is a big point.
For years (15 this September), this tragedy has left a stain on my soul. A depression, a pain, and an empty gaping hole. As the years passed by, I have found it easier to move on, most of the time. However, every year as September rolls around, I find myself hating that month more and more because I know it holds the anniversary of this tragedy and I will be reminded by well meaning friends, family and news outlets of the horrors that my 14 year old and completely not ready self had to face that day and in the days thereafter. I will be reminded of the friends running to my front door with the news of who we knew that had been shot and who was dead and who was in the hospital. I will remember the moment my friend collapsed in my arms in a fit of tears and I had no idea how to help. I was proud and I didn't want my family to know how badly this affected me. I think that might have been my biggest mistake. I will be reminded of the quotes I gave the newspapers, of the strength of Pastor Al Meredith in a time where he had to stand up and lead his congregation. I will be reminded of the comfort given by President (then Governor) George W Bush. I remember that the way he stood beside us during our tragedy was the very reason I voted for him for president and it is the reason I will give even today for saying I would vote that way again, if given the chance. I will be reminded of the bells rung on the Texas Christian University campus for our victims. I will be reminded...
...and I will continue to hate September.
From the very moment this tragedy happened, I have warned the devil and the powers of darkness that be, that I would, one day, stand up strong and turn the evil committed that day into something good. I promised I would use it to glorify God and I promised the devil that he would NOT have the last say in this matter.
So, after a long story bringing you up to date on why I am doing this, I would like to announce to you that on September 15, 2014 (the 15 yr anniversary of the shooting) I will be doing a fundraising walk from Elbasan, Albania (the city I currently live in) to Tirana (the capitol city of Albania).
This walk is intended to be a fundraising walk to benefit the work I do with the Roma gypsy girls here in Albania, and 50% of the proceeds I will personally donate to Wedgwood Baptist Church.
It is not a long walk, 26 miles in all. It will take me about 8 hours to complete. I am not in shape and I have been training throughout the summer to make sure I will be in the best shape possible to make the walk. I am very exciting about dancing on the devil's head the whole 26 miles and it brings me nearly to tears to imagine being able to, personally, give the 50% to Wedgwood Baptist Church after the walk.
I want to challenge YOU, my old classmates (whom I know this will affect), my family, my friends and even my simple acquaintances to GIVE towards this cause. Help me be a part of turning something terrible into something good. After all... oh wait... I haven't told you that part yet =)
The missions trip abroad my pastor was on (when the youth pastor couldn't get a hold of him to get permission).
Ya, he was in Albania, building the ministry in a nation that I am now a part of. Paving the way for me to come one day and continue the work here. You see, so after all...
Albania saved my life.
So now lets give to the work in Albania and to the wonderful works in abundance that go on day in and day out at Wedgwood Baptist in Fort Worth, TX.
Donations can be made through my organization by clicking HERE and by selecting 'Julie Shelley' from the campaigns menu. Please denote (in the comments section) that the donation is for the fundraising walk.
If you would like to read more about what happened on that dark day in 1999 plese click on of the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Gene_Ashbrook
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,31191,00.html
http://www.wedgwoodbc.org/joyful-relationships/church-information/wedgwood-shooting/
Thank you for reading.
Julie
