Craig Brewer

*He* is testing us. Our Lord is testing us. Especially now, when we are consumed with despair. When we are asking our God why this had to happen. No parent should ever have to know the horror of burying their own child. And yet, five of Bomont's brightest have lost their lives. Among them, my only son... my boy, Bobby. We have other children to raise here in Bomont. And one day, they will no longer be in our embrace and in our care. They will belong to the world. A world filled with evil, and temptation, and danger. But until that day, they are ours to protect. That is the lesson to be taken from this tragedy. That is our test. We cannot be missing from our children's lives.

I am standing before you today with a troubled heart. I've insisted on taking responsibility for your lives. That I am really, just like a first-time parent, who makes mistakes and learns as he goes along. And like that parent, I find myself at that moment when I have to decide. Do I hold on or do I trust you to yourselves? Do I let go and hope that you have understood my lessons? If we don't start trusting our children, how will they ever become trustworthy. I'm told that the senior class of Bomont High School has secured the use of a warehouse in nearby Bayson for a senior dance. Please join me in keeping them in our prayers that our Lord would guide them in their endeavors.

I wasn't here three years ago, when tragedy struck this town. And I know it's not my place to mourn the lives that were lost because I didn't know them. But it doesn't mean that I don't think about them every day. Like a lot of students at Bomont, I see those pictures every day at school. And each time I see their faces, I think of how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken from us. I know this firsthand... in my own way. And three years ago, nearly a dozen laws were introduced to this council in order to protect the children of Bomont. And most of these laws, I can see, as a parent, how they make sense to you. But my right to dance... when I want, where I want, and how I want is a right that you cannot take away! It is mine. See, we don't have that much time left. All us teenagers, pretty soon we're gonna be just like you. We're gonna have jobs, and bills, and families. And we're gonna have to worry about our own children, because that is the job of a parent. To worry. I get that. But ours, as teenagers, is to live! To play our music way too loud and to act like idiots! And to make mistakes. Aren't we told in Psalm 149: "Praise the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song. And let them praise His name in the dance." Now if anybody else brought their Bible, like I did, will you please turn it into the Book of Samuel, 6:14. "David... David danced before the Lord with all his might, leaping and dancing before the Lord." Celebrating his love of God and celebrating his love of life. With what? With dancing! That's all we're doing here. Ecclesiastes assures us, "There is a time for each purpose under heaven. There's a time to weep. There's a time to mourn. And there is a time to dance." And this is our time! There was once a time for that law, but not anymore. Thank you.

It's country line dancing; it's a white man's wet dream!

Hey! I thought this was a party! Let's dance!