"Some people have funerals, and then some have celebrations," Pastor Perry Noble said, describing the scene as more than 2,000 people gathered to commemorate the life of Amanda Blackburn, the pastor's wife who was shot on Tuesday in her home.
Worship music filled the auditorium of Traders Point Christian Church for the memorial service of Blackburn, 28, as photographs of her life filled the big screens on the stage.
"In the 28 years that she was with us, Amanda gave us a lot to celebrate, would you agree?" said Noble, pastor of Newspring Church, who gave the eulogy.
Blackburn, who was 12 weeks' pregnant according to family and friends, died in hospital on Wednesday morning after she was shot in the head by an intruder. She was also mother to a toddler, Weston.
Four churches co-ordinated the service, including Newsprings church where Blackburn and her husband, Davey, had been involved and Resonate Church, where Davey is pastor.
A video was shown of Blackburn's family and Resonate church members talking about her.
"Amanda was a gift from Day One. I'm not just exaggerating because I'm emotional right now and I'm sad. That girl didn't give me five minutes worth of trouble in her life," Blackburn's mother, Robin Byars, said in the video.
Noble, who led the eulogy, shared how he met Davey while at college and how Blackburn had made him a better man:
"They walked in, and I said that thing that hasn't been quite right with Davey just got made right when she walked in. She truly was the person that completed him and made him a better man."
He described receiving the news that Blackburn had injured her head on Tuesday:
"For me, in the world that I live in, I thought, maybe she's climbed up on the kitchen cabinet trying to get something and she fell and hit her head," Noble said.
When he was told what happened, "I thought, 'No, God, not her.' "
Alluding to God's restorative and redemptive power, Noble shared how Blackburn used to renovate furniture: "Over time, she was able to take something in her hands and turn it into something beautiful and desirable and usable."
"One day, we'll sit down at a table," Noble said, "and we will celebrate what is breaking our hearts right now."
