Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, whose story was told the movie and book “American Sniper,” was tragically killed on a Texas gun range by a former Marine he was trying to help. His widow, Taya, recently shared how she is leaning on her faith to cope with her loss.
“We’re about 11 years out of Chris’s murder,” she told CBN News. “When he first was killed, I remember talking to a friend of mine, saying, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to afford our house.’”
Her friend assured her she would always have a roof over her head and food to eat. That encouraging friend reminded Kyle there are people who love and care about the family. In the end, this advice was proven true despite the difficulties the family faced. That reminder has helped Kyle and her children, Colton, 19, and McKenna, 18, refocus on thankfulness.
“My kids and I pick that up and we pray that, even to this day,” Kyle said. “Thank you, God, for the roof over our head and the food to eat it. Those are blessings. And even if it doesn’t negate that bad things are happening when you’re grateful, I think that’s an important point.”
The process of journeying through loss was “messy,” she said.
“The great news is that I believe God prepares us for the things that are going to happen to us later,” Kyle said. “He just does it really lovingly and really gently, so we can’t predict the bad thing that’s coming. I think, in a lot of ways, God had already prepared me by knowing that he’s the one — he is going to be there. He could lift my fear when I had it. I get chills talking about it. He had been so present in my life in different ways that were undeniable that I knew I had him to rely on.”
More than a decade after her husband’s murder, Kyle said she is “joyful and blessed” most days now and knows God will be there during the ups and downs. “If something happens, I know I’ll survive it,” she said.
As for forgiveness, she admitted it took some time to get there, particularly when it came to the man who killed her husband. Over time, there, too, she found healing. “I don’t forgive the act,” Kyle said. “I forgive the person as a child of God falling to temptation repeatedly until it got to a different place of character.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice