{"id":19977,"date":"2024-10-04T07:48:33","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T11:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=19977"},"modified":"2024-10-04T07:48:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T11:48:33","slug":"pastor-shares-his-journey-to-forgiveness-after-his-wife-and-child-were-murdered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/10\/pastor-shares-his-journey-to-forgiveness-after-his-wife-and-child-were-murdered.html","title":{"rendered":"Pastor Shares His Journey to Forgiveness After His Wife and Child Were Murdered"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Davey Blackburn \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On November 10, 2015, Pastor Davey Blackburn entered his Indianapolis home after working out at the gym and found a horrific sight. His wife of seven years, Amanda, was lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood. His 15-month-old son, Weston, was also home at the time, but was thankfully unhurt and in his crib. Thinking initially that Amanda, who was 13 weeks pregnant at the time, had somehow fallen and hurt herself, Amanda was taken to the hospital. It was then that Blackburn realized his wife had been shot.<\/p>\n

It was a stunning revelation. Indianapolis had been a calling for the Blackburns, who served as pastors and church planters. The neighborhood they lived in had also seemed so safe. \u201cIt felt so safe that we hardly ever locked our doors,\u201d Blackburn told Inside Edition<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> \u201cSometimes we’d go for a walk with our garage door flown wide open. It was just such a random thing, that it was so disorienting, not only to have to deal with the upending crisis, catastrophic event of losing my wife in such a violent way, but also just not knowing how to sort through the pieces of, \u2018How do I help Weston through this? How do I help our congregation through this?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tragically, Amanda and their unborn child did not make it, leading police to start a murder investigation that would gain the case national attention and would put Blackburn under intense scrutiny. Some people began to suspect Blackburn had something to do with the murders, causing family stress. \u201cI step back and I look at it, I go, \u2018OK, well, It makes sense because most people, that’s the first place that they’re going to revert to. They’re going to think that because they hear so many stories like that. On some level I understand it, but it doesn’t change how much it affected our family and how difficult it was,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Eventually, three teenagers were arrested and charged with the murders: Larry Jo Taylor, Jr., Diano Gordon, and Jalen Watson. The trio had attempted to rob the Blackburns\u2019 home, killing Amanda in the process. Blackburn struggled to forgive, knowing what was right and feeling differently. \u201cI knew what \u2026 I wanted my heart to feel, but it wasn\u2019t feeling that because forgiveness is not a feeling. It\u2019s a decision, and, as you begin to walk in that decision daily, then \u2026 the Lord does things to begin to heal your heart, grow your heart, stretch your heart,\u201d he told CBN News<\/em><\/a>. One of the killers, Diano Gordon, found it hard to believe that Blackburn had chosen to forgive him. \u201cHe couldn’t believe me telling him, \u2018Hey, I’ve chosen to forgive you. And really the reason I’ve chosen to forgive you is because Jesus has forgiven me,\u2019\u201d said Blackburn.<\/p>\n

Through it all, God remained faithful. \u201cThere are so many things where God has shown up for me, even in ways that are unseen. He\u2019s healed me, He\u2019s restored me, He\u2019s put me back together, made me whole again, so that I can help other people. And that\u2019s really what your healing and wholeness is for. It\u2019s not for you. \u2026 It\u2019s so that you can begin to comfort others with the same comfort that you\u2019ve been comforted [with],\u201d he said. He wrote about his experiences with grief and forgiveness in his book, Nothing Is Wasted: A True Story of Hope, Forgiveness, and Finding Purpose in Pain<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>In 2017, Blackburn remarried. Kristi and her daughter were attending Blackburn\u2019s church when he spotted her one day while working out at the gym. He eventually approached her and found that her stepdad was a chaplain at the prison, sharing the Gospel with the three men who had murdered his wife. The couple now have three children they are raising: Weston, Kristi\u2019s daughter Natalia, and their son, Cohen. They run a ministry together called Nothing is Wasted. \u201cIt signifies just that, that God doesn’t waste our pain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 10, 2015, Pastor Davey Blackburn entered his Indianapolis home after working out at the gym and found a horrific sight. His wife of seven years, Amanda, was lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood. His 15-month-old son, Weston, was also home at the time, but was thankfully unhurt and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":19887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-people","category-love"],"yoast_head":"\nPastor Shares His Journey to Forgiveness After His Wife and Child Were Murdered<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/10\/pastor-shares-his-journey-to-forgiveness-after-his-wife-and-child-were-murdered.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pastor Shares His Journey to Forgiveness After His Wife and Child Were Murdered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On November 10, 2015, Pastor Davey Blackburn entered his Indianapolis home after working out at the gym and found a horrific sight. 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