oh man... that sucks big time.

Thanks, Daniel. Denise (my wife) went over to the friend's house not long after I posted, so you can be praying for Denise, too. That God will use her to encourage and support her friend.

The church is paying for plane tickets for the family, so they're flying down today.

Denise got home around 12:30am. She'd done some things around the house for them (dishes, laundry, etc.) and spent a lot of time just listening to and comforting her fried.

There was some good news. This morning, we found out that the forensics study determined that the dad shot himself accidentally, which took a lot of guilt off of his wife. They assumed suicide originally because he was drunk at the time and he and his wife had a bad argument not long before it happened.

Their conclusion was that he was going down the deck steps and must've slipped and accidentally fired the gun. (He was taking the gun to trade with his brother, or something like that, and had the bad habit of always keeping it loaded.) The bullet entered his stomach at an upward angle and went through his heart, which is a strange angle for a suicide apparently. It exited out his back and then struck their dog in the hip, which gave them an even better idea of the bullet's trajectory.

It also seems that it's possible that her dad might've been a Christian, though he definitely wasn't living it at all. Denise's friend admits that she doesn't know and is doubtful, but I guess that uncertainty gives her something to hope in.

Thanks for the prayers prayed and yet to be prayed.

John