Craig and Susan located their sons by their cries – one boy was lying in the ditch,
another in an area wet from melted snow. Nearby was his brother who landed
by a telephone pole. All were seriously injured, but when Craig, a medical doctor,
reached Jeremy, he found him lying by a fence post with his neck broken.
There was nothing Craig could do to revive him.
When Don received the news of this tragedy a few hours later, he recalls,
“My whole world came to a standstill, but I had to get on a plane the next morning
and fly to a recording session that had been scheduled for several weeks.
Although I knew Craig and Susan were hurting, I couldn’t be with them
until the day before the funeral.
“During the flight the morning after the accident, God gave me a song for them:
‘God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He works in ways
we cannot see. He will make a way for me.’
The song was based upon Isaiah 43:19 NASB –
‘Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.’”
This song would bring comfort to Craig and Susan when all hope seemed lost.
It touched the hurt in their hearts with hope and encouragement. Don received
a letter from Susan in which she quoted Isaiah 43:4 NASB:
“Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.”
Susan wrote, “ We’ve seen the truth of the scripture.” When Jeremy’s friends learned
that he had accepted Jesus into his life before he died, many of them began
to ask their own parents how they could be assured of going to heaven when they
died. The accident also prompted Craig and Susan into a deeper walk with the Lord
as well as into new avenues of ministry. Craig began teaching Sunday school
at their church and Susan became active in Women’s Aglow,
sharing with various groups her story and the Lord’s provision in her time of sorrow.
She has since said, “The day of the accident, when I got out of the van, even
before I knew our son was dead, I knew I had a choice. I could be bitter and
angry or I could totally accept God and whatever He had for us. I had to make
the decision fast. I’ve seen fruit come as a result of that choice. If I had to,
I’d do it again. It’s worth knowing others will go to heaven because of what happened
to Jeremy. God really did make a way for us!”