A New Year and A New Chapter

Today seemed to be the end of a chapter in this saga.  We arrived at the King County Courthouse and Regional Justice Center in Kent for the 8:30AM sentencing hearing of the man who hit us head on back in May.  Also in attendance were members of his family.  We couldn't help but feel bad that they were going through this as well.  In the same way that our lives were altered by his actions, so were theirs.  Good people don't raise a son to be a felon and a drunk driver.  It was obvious they were good people.  It looked as though they were all retired and should be spending their days enjoying lemonade on the porch instead of picking up the pieces of their son's life.  

Eventually Chris walked in, hands cuffed behind his back wearing red prison garb and those horrible plastic sandals.  His head hung low and an obvious dark cloud surrounding him.  There was no shred of pride and nothing, frankly, for him to be proud of in that moment.  He quietly took his seat next to his public defender and in front of his mother and other relatives.  The formal hoops were all jumped through; his guilty plea reiterated and then the state attorney asked the judge for certain penalties for each criminal count.  At that point the court deferred to "the family" who Jeremy represented.

It's an unparalleled opportunity to face the person who nearly killed you and your family.  While that may sound dramatic, the truth is, had the first responders not been there so quickly Jeremy probably would not be alive.  What do you say to a man who is quite obviously broken, but who nearly took your life because of irresponsibility and selfishness?  I guess the better perspective would be to remember what Jesus did for each of us.  Where there is grace and mercy, there is also forgiveness.  That, on an earthly level, is what Chris received - a pardon from Jeremy and Moni as an extension of the pardon that was granted to them when they accepted the sacrifice of Christ.  Jeremy understood that he could very easily have been in the defendant's seat waiting to be given a sentence in his younger days.  There comes a point when God is knocking at your door and you don't need a punch to the gut - you need someone to point you to Christ.  Jeremy surprised the judge, the attorneys, the clerks, Chris and his family by displaying compassion and mercy.  Then in an unprecedented action, the bailiff and the judge allowed Jeremy to spend a face-to-face and hand-to-hand minute or two with Chris.  

In the end, Chris was convicted of felony DUI, felony vehicular assault and misdemeanor reckless driving.  He will serve 12 months concurrently in prison and then will be released with probation along with numerous restrictions that will follow him for the rest of his life.  After such time there will be a hearing to follow up with his probation and, most likely, hefty restitution enforced by the court.  

Call it irony or orchestration by God, but it turns out that Chris' mother and grandmother attend Lake Sawyer Christian Church along with Jeremy, Moni and the girls.  They have been praying that Chris would receive forgiveness from his victims and had been carrying such deep sorrow for what their son had done.  There were many tears and hugs in the hallway after the hearing was over.  In the end it was evident that God's hand was in every aspect of this situation - from the first responders being so close, to the eternal wake up call that Chris received, to the community at LSCC.