Chad Watson uses loss of family as a lesson

Feb. 24--GREENVILLE, Ky. -- Weeks after eight of his children and his wife were killed in a fire, the thesis of Rev. Chad Watson's message delivered Sunday in an event to honor their lives was summed up in his last spoken line -- "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

"I want people to remember how my family lived, and not by how they died. I'm up here to tell you what gave them life -- that's Jesus Christ. I hope you brought your Bible," Watson told the hundreds of people gathered at Felix Martin Hall at the Muhlenberg County High School West Campus in Greenville on Sunday afternoon.

Watson and his 11-year-old daughter Kylie Watson were released from the hospital in Nashville, Tenn., last week. They are still recovering from their burn wounds. The fire that took the lives of nine family members early Jan. 30 started when combustible material fell against a baseboard heater in a bedroom of their Depoy home.

Those who died were Watson's wife, Nikki, 35, and children Madison, 15; Kaitlyn, 14; Morgan, 13; Emily, 9; Samuel, 8; Reagan, 6; and twins Mark and Nathaniel, 4.

Watson, two weeks after his family was buried, made his first appearance at the pulpit since the fire. He was at the school where he met and fell in love with Nikki.

While his message focused on God, he dotted the sermon with bits of his family and the night he lost them.

"That night, I felt it all taken away in a moment, ripped out of my hands. I thought they're being taken home and the only one who can stop it is allowing it to happen," he said to a hushed crowd. "That night, running around a neighbor's living room, chasing my daughter as we saw the flesh dripping from our hands. All I could think of was, 'Who else am I going to turn to?'"

The silence was broken by a off-time chorus of "amens" from the audience. Chad's message was framed by a story out of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus feeds a crowd of 5,000 from five loaves of bread and two small fish, which Watson said is an allegory for the need for people to "feast" on Christ, as he is to the soul what bread is to the body.

"When I woke up in the hospital, I knew it was bad. I knew what had happened. I remembered everything. But I would still only think, 'Where else am I going to go,'" said Watson on God's presence in things good and bad in his life.

He said his children were "gifts from God."

"I am so thankful I taught them to eat and drink Christ," he said.

Beginning his sermon, Watson offered thanks to the many groups, churches, businesses and other community members who supported the family.

"You have softened our sorrow, bore our burden and eased our pain," he said.

The Watson home is now a pile of rubble, after the charred, blackened remains were demolished last week. Jagoe Homes, of Owensboro, plans to manage and construct a new home for Chad and Kylie, pastor Tim Burden said.

The family was without insurance, according to the church. Memorial funds for the family were established at three banks: "Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Watson Family Fund" at any Old National Bank location, "Watson Family Memorial Fund" at 1st Kentucky Bank in Central City, Ky., and "Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Watson Family fund" at Commonwealth Community Bank.

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