{"id":18384,"date":"2024-06-03T10:17:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T14:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=18384"},"modified":"2024-06-03T10:17:05","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T14:17:05","slug":"american-sniper-widow-taya-kyle-clings-to-jesus-forgives-11-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/06\/american-sniper-widow-taya-kyle-clings-to-jesus-forgives-11-years-later.html","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;American Sniper&#8217; Widow Taya Kyle Clings to Jesus, Forgives 11 Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_18390\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18390\" style=\"width: 868px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2024\/06\/taya-kyle-forgiveness-credit-abc-news-youtube.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18390\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2024\/06\/taya-kyle-forgiveness-credit-abc-news-youtube.png\" alt=\"taya kyle\" width=\"868\" height=\"563\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18390\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ABC News\/YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Taya Kyle encountered a real-life nightmare on Feb. 2, 2013, when her husband, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, and his friend, Chad Littlefield, were murdered at a Texas gun range by a former Marine they attempted to help. The loving mom of two and wife has bravely shared her family\u2019s story and worked to inspire others to navigate and process their pain. Her latest project, <em>Prayers for Bears: Bailey the Grateful Bear, <\/em>is a children\u2019s book that reflects her family\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle told CBN News, explaining how she has had to focus on gratitude over the years to navigate such profound loss, \u201cWe\u2019re about 11 years out of Chris\u2019s murder, just over 11 years. When he first was killed,\u00a0 I remember talking to a friend of mine, saying, \u2018I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to afford our house.\u2019\u201d However, \u00a0her friend assured her she would always have a roof over her head and food to eat. That encouraging friend reminded Kyle that some people love and care about their families.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, this advice was proven true despite the difficulties the family faced. That reminder has helped Kyle and her children, Colton, 19, and McKenna, 18, refocus on thankfulness. Kyle said, \u201cMy kids and I pick that up, and we pray that, even to this day. [We pray], \u2018Thank you, God, for the roof over our head and the food to eat it.&#8217;\u201d She continued, \u201cThose are blessings. And even if it doesn\u2019t negate that bad things are happening when you\u2019re grateful, I think that\u2019s an important point.\u201d Remembering the good and bad can coexist \u2014 difficulties and times of gratitude can coincide \u2014 is something Kyle now seeks to instill in readers and fans.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZaLEewBE-AE?si=S6n6N5R3vRE5tmVe\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>She, of course, knows a great deal about finding hope amid struggles, as she and her children had to deal with the very public loss of her husband, a revered sniper known for his incredible skills. The process of journeying through loss was \u201cmessy,\u201d Kyle admitted. She said, \u201cThe great news is that I believe God prepares us for the things that are going to happen to us later. He just does it really lovingly and really gently, so we can\u2019t predict the bad thing that\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kyle said she now sees how the Lord equipped her and her family well before Chris was killed. She recalled how she began clinging deeper to her faith while Chris was still in the military and deployed, relying on God to navigate fear, find joy, and cope with loss. As for forgiveness, she admitted it took some time to get there, particularly when it came to the man who killed her husband. Over time, there, too, she found healing. \u201cI don\u2019t forgive the act,\u201d Kyle said. \u201cI forgive the person as a child of God falling to temptation repeatedly until it got to a different place of character.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for Kyle\u2019s current work, in addition to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Prayers-Bears-Bailey-Grateful-Bear\/dp\/B0CPWLGCV1\">Prayers for Bears: Bailey the Grateful Bear<\/a><\/em>, \u00a0she continues to run the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tackf.org\/\">Taya and Chris Kyle Foundation<\/a>, an organization that helps restore and sustain the marriages of first responders, military members, veterans, and others. Kyle said these families face \u201cunique challenges,\u201d so the foundation\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tackf.org\/our-programs\/\">offers<\/a>\u00a0programs to help them navigate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taya Kyle encountered a real-life nightmare on Feb. 2, 2013, when her husband, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, and his friend, Chad Littlefield, were murdered at a Texas gun range by a former Marine they attempted to help. The loving mom of two and wife has bravely shared her family\u2019s story and worked to inspire&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":18390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[997,741,4,12],"tags":[2403,151,2406],"class_list":["post-18384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-encounter-with-god","category-faith","category-inspiring-messages","category-inspiring-people","tag-chris-kyle","tag-forgiveness","tag-taya-kyle"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;American Sniper&#039; Widow Taya Kyle Clings to Jesus, Forgives 11 Years Later<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Taya Kyle encountered a real-life nightmare in 2013, when her husband, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, and his 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