This Saturday will be six months since my life changed completely. Most of you dont know all the details of Jared Ostings testimony but I would like to share if I could. This will probably be a pretty long post but please keep reading. Jared absolutely had his differences with his dad and I, most all of his friends could attest to that, and we had our share of hard times while he was growing up. Jared accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior when he was just 9 years old. Then, like many teens, he pulled away from God and family as he tried to find his way in life but there was always something sweet about this young man that kept him just this side of really messing things up. In the last year, Jared had seemed to really be getting his life figured out. He was coming back to church and even bringing Tori, his brand new fiancé. Jared had always dreamed of being a Marine. He finally was able to realize that dream in April. Plans were made and Jared was to leave on April 14th for boot camp. He asked me to get him a different bible to take with him. His bible is very big and really really nice. He didnt want to ruin it and he wanted something smaller. As it got closer to the date Jared was determined to see EVERYONE before he left. He took Tori and they went to Ohio to visit all our family and friends, it was just something he felt he needed to do. In fact, I teased him a little about it. I said, geez Jared, you are just going to boot camp, not off to war. Little did I know then, but he seemed to somehow have an instinct about it. He stopped in to have a chat with one of his favorite people, our pastor Matthew Sims. While they visited, Pastor talked to Jared about lots of things and Jared gave him a clear account of his salvation experience. Jared made sure he got to see all the people who were special to him before he left for boot camp, and if you were at the funeral home or his funeral you know it would have taken forever to see all his friends, he sure had lots of them. Finally, on April 14th we went to Indy and watched him swear in to the United States Marine Corp. He had gone down to Indy the night before and had to spend the night there. He told me that he had spent most of the time reading his bible while the other guys there watched movies. That was such a pleasant surprise to me. We went to the airport with all the young men leaving that day and I have to say, while most of them looked apprehensive at best, Jared had the biggest smile and it was obvious that this was his dream. He had a plan to be the best of the best and I have no doubt that if he had been able to stay, he would have been. Before he got on the plane he asked me to make sure to try to encourage Tori to go to church with us. We got our first phone call the next day to let us know that he had arrived safely in San Diego. Im sure glad his recruiters told us what to expect in that call or I may have thought he had been kidnapped, strangest call ever. We werent supposed to hear from him then for 2 weeks and then only by mail. Two days later, much to my surprise I got a call from him while I was at work. He said that during his physical they had found that he had a problem with his eyes that would require surgery and they were sending him home. I was so worried for him. I had heard Jared sound angry many many times but this was so much worse. He sounded completely defeated. I had never heard him like this and it frightened me. I told him I would be praying more than ever and that I would find the best doctor and we would figure it out. I wasnt supposed to hear from him again until they had his arrangements made to come home but somehow I got to talk to him 3 more times before that. The next phone call was such a blessing to me. He said that he had lots of time to read his bible, and did I know that that little bible had helps in the back? He had looked up discouraged and the verse that it led him to was Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. He was so excited that God knew that he needed this verse and led him to it. He told me that he had figured out why God was making him come home already. He said, in his words, Mom, I had all these big plans that I was going to do. And I didnt give God any part of it. He is just saying Jared, without me, YOU can do NOTHING. This was exactly the thing I had been praying for. Honestly, I was thrilled that he was coming home. I couldnt wait to see what God was going to do with him. I got him an appointment with a specialist in Indianapolis and we waited to hear when he would be coming home. He called and said that he would be flying in on April 24 at about 11pm. That meant we probably would not be getting back to Lafayette until 1230 or 1 and we would all just go to bed because Jan and I would both be working the next day. But on the 24th Jared called and said that his flight had been delayed and he wouldnt fly into Indy until 9am on the 25th. Of course we were disappointed in the delay but now I see it was all part of Gods plan. Jan and I both took off work Friday April 25th to do pick him up. That in itself was unusual because normally it would just have been me, but Jan took off the morning as well. So Jan, Tori and I picked Jared up at 9am and left to come home. It was raining so we decided it wouldnt hurt if Jan was even a little later and we stopped to have breakfast, another thing we normally would not have done. We visited and just had a good time. When we got home Jan went to work and Jared decided that since it had cleared up, he wanted to ride his bike. Tori took his truck so she could go to work and he visited with me a little more gave me a hug, told me he loved me then took off. That was the last time I saw Jaed alive. He had called Grant and they made plans to ride that night, he stopped to see Brittany at work, he made plans with Paden Clements then he headed to the recruiters office. He wanted to tell them the plan, that he would get his eyes fixed, get his life on track and re enlist. Jan got home from work at about 345. By 408 we had received a call from St Elizabeth hospital that our son had been in a serious accident on his motorcycle and we needed to get there NOW. I drove and Jan started calling people. Tori was first, then Pastor. I didnt want to call Brittany and Grant until I knew what to tell them. My mind was racing on that drive. I was thinking, ok, they are going to tell us to be prepared for tubes, IVs, all kinds of wires and such. They led us to this little room and the doctor and nurse came in and sat with us. Then the door opens again and the Chaplin walks in. My heart dropped and I knew immediately that Jared was gone. At that moment, we became parents who had lost a child. The whirlwind started. The funeral home was unbelievable. We always said that Jared never new a stranger, wow, were we right. There were over 980 people who signed the guest book. Many friends told us they came and couldnt wait the over 3 hours that it took to get to the front of the line. Who knows how many didnt sign in at all. Cars were parked in neighborhoods surrounding the funeral home, in business parking lots and the street. They closed the 4 lane street in front of the funeral home down to just 2 lanes from people being parked in the street. Of all the young people who came through that line, there was one common phrase amongst them...Jared was my best friend . I asked one of them how he was able to have them all believe that they were his best friend. The reply? Jared made every single person he knew feel like they were the most important person in the world. He took time for everyone. He had friends from all walks of life. Seriously. Young or old, didnt matter to him. And once you were his friend you had a friend for life. His entire life suddenly made sense to me . He was always going and doing. He did things most young people never even think about and most older people either are too old or too scared to try. Jareds funeral was the most beautiful funeral there ever was, if that makes any sense. Our pastor preached his funeral at our church, Charity Baptist Church and it was completely packed out. People in the aisles, in the entrance to the church, in the choir loft, outside. Pastor knew Jared so incredibly well. He had stories I didnt even know about, and then ... he gave the gospel. People got saved immediately after the service. People got saved days later. People made decisions for Christ. Pastor used Jareds story in a message at a youth rally in the state of Kansas this summer and kids there, who didnt even ever have the opportunity to know Jared got saved. I have had so many opportunities to be a witness because of the life of my son, after all, who is going to tell a grieving mother they dont want to hear about her son? God has been good. That may sound like an odd statement to most but Jared got the opportunity to experience the marines, even though he didnt get to stay. He was engaged and was excited to see where life would take him and Tori. He died doing what he loved and according to the doctors he most likely didnt feel any pain. We found out later that he was able to be a donor even though he never had a heartbeat after the accident. He had family and friends that loved him. Most importantly of all, God used Jareds life in an amazing way that I never would have believed possible. He impacted everyone who ever met him in life and in death. He completely and totally lived life to the fullest. He lived like there was no tomorrow. Now we know why. I am so thankful for my amazing family and friends, my husband Jan, daughter Brittany Butler, son Grant Osting. Tori Lynn and her family, all of Jared and Grants friends for continuing to be here for Grant and for us. Thank you to all of you who pray for us. We appreciate it more than you will ever know. Please keep the prayers coming, we have many difficult days still and appreciate the thoughts. We are still struggling, as I am sure we will until the day that Jesus comes back and takes us to be with him in Heaven. Then we will be reunited. Until that time we pray and we thank God for the time we had Jared in our lives on this earth. I love you Jared and I miss you every moment of every day.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 01:51:21 +0000
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