A pastor and his wife are living out the meaning of Christ's resurrection by forgiving the truck driver responsible for the death of their two children.
Gentry Eddings, a campus pastor for Forest Hill, a nondenominational and theologically conservative church in Charlotte, and his wife Hadley, a teacher for the church's pre-school, lost their 2 year old son Dobbs and their newborn son Reed in a car crash with a tractor trailer being driven by a driver who was found to be under the influence of heroin at the time of the accident, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The accident happened in May 2015 while they were on their way home from Gentry's sister's wedding.
During the truck driver's sentencing, both husband and wife gave powerful messages that inspired their community to reach deeper into their faiths.
"Words cannot describe how important (Dobbs and Reed) are to us ... Our resurrection hope is to see them again. And that gives us hope. So we understand the magnitude of what's happened. With that in mind, I just wanted you to know that, as Hadley said, we know that it was not your intention for them to die ... That is significant and meaningful for me and for Hadley. Still mistakes were made that led us to this place. But I want you to know that I sincerely forgive you completely," Gentry said.
The truck driver has since been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.
Since the story broke out, over $100,000 in donations have poured in for a nonprofit group that Forest Hill has partnered with to help with the rebuilding of Haiti. A portion of the funds will be used to build a nine room school called The Dobbs and Reed Grade School in the village of Minoterie.
