The thought that Amanda Blackburn is now wrapped in the loving arms of God in heaven is what keeps her husband Pastor Davey sane despite his grief. To ease the pain of missing her, the widower has tried to find comfort by reading his late wife's diary, which left him utterly amazed by her deep love for God.
Davey has shared snippets of his wife's diary entries on his social media page, according to the Gospel Herald.
In her last post, Amanda's feminine handwriting can be seen reflecting upon the lyrics of Helen H. Lemmel's 1922 hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus."
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace," she wrote. "What an amazing Sunday yesterday that filled my heart to see so many people in your church. Learning, growing, meeting you and taking next steps. Thank you for letting me get to see all of this (with) my own eyes. I love you Lord. Glory and praise to you."
In a different entry, the 28-year-old Christian rejoiced in God's faithfulness. "I can say, 'Blessed be your name' because you are working everything out for a perfect purpose," she wrote.
Amanda was killed inside her own house last Nov. 10, just a few hours after Davey left for the gym. According to an autopsy, she had a "gunshot wound to the back of her head. She also had a gunshot wound to the lower left arm which traveled up to her biceps. She also had a through and through gunshot wound that entered and exited her upper back."
She also reportedly suffered "scratches to her left cheek, a split lip, and a lower tooth knocked out."
Her alleged killers, 18-year-old Larry Jo Taylor Jr. and 21-year-old Jalen Watson have pleaded not guilty.
Davey has chosen to forgive his wife's attackers. "I don't want to live my life going down the path of bitterness because it will destroy my soul and it will destroy everybody around me if I choose that [unforgiveness]," he explained to Fox News.
"So today, I choose forgiveness. And tomorrow, I pray that I can wake up and choose forgiveness by the power of Jesus Christ. One of the things about Jesus when they were inflicting way more pain than any of us can imagine on Him, on the cross, He looked out and he said, 'Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing.' And so that spirit lives in us and we're just praying His spirit would help us in that."
