He nervously paced the floor as he kept his eyes fixed on the ancient clock mounted on the wall. The fluorescent lights buzzed and flickered. The eerie hallway smelled like a rundown nursing home. Hank could feel sweat racing down his back. The men accompanying him sat calmly checking their cell phones, nonchalantly glancing at him every few minutes. They were worried about him.

Hank had never witnessed a murder before or the death of anyone for that matter. He had actually refused to be in the room when his own mother quietly passed away. Death terrified him. But today was different. Although he was anxious, he had to admit he was very excited. He had waited seventeen excruciating years for this.

His concentration was broken as the sound of the metal door bursting open echoed throughout the hallway. A guard who looked to be a modern day Goliath stepped out and sternly announced, “It’s time.”

Hank felt as if he were in slow motion as they silently filed into the tiny room with folding chairs and eager reporters. Not wanting to make eye contact with anyone, especially photographers, he kept his focus on the floor. He knew when he looked up, he would see the man responsible for violently murdering his precious daughter and ruining his life.

He felt sick. For a moment he turned to squeeze by his lawyers and make a quick exit before he had to look at his worst enemy. Yet, this is what he had been waiting for, fighting for. Justice. Justice for Addilyn. So he turned back around, braced himself, and looked straight ahead.

Though he knew exactly what Heath Conner looked like and was well educated on this process, the reality of the scene still took his breath away. There was Conner only six feet away from him beyond the glass, lying on a table in a crucifix position. His arms and legs were strapped to the execution table. In the small execution chamber, there were also two doctors and a few guards. The murderer was perfectly still.

Conner had already said his goodbyes to his family that evening and eaten his last meal of favorite foods. He had even been heavily sedated with Valium to make him calm and comfortable before the process began. Addilyn wasn’t given a chance to say goodbye to her family or any other choice. She was tortured. Raped. Mutilated and beaten to death. She was never calm or comfortable once he took her from the dark parking lot of the small hometown diner, until her nightmare finally came to an end. Her choices ended at 17. Ironically, he was granted 17 extra years of life after his conviction due to appeals.

A guard walked to Conner’s side and began shaking him to wake him up. A microphone was lowered to Conner’s mouth. Speakers in the holding room allowed them to hear what was going on in the execution chamber. Once Conner’s eyes were opened and focused, the guard asked him if he had any last words. Hank wondered what Addilyn’s last words were and wished he could kill Conner himself.

A single tear slid down Conner’s cheek as he turned and looked directly at their window. His chin quivered and he tried to speak, but no words came. The Valium made it hard to keep his eyes open, but before he went back to sleep he plainly said, “Father…..today.”

Immediately Hank was angry that this man, this wretched cold blooded murderer, had the audacity to cry out to the same God in whom Hank had believed in for a lifetime. The same God Hank had cried out to everyday for the last 17 years to heal his broken heart and help him make it through the day. The same God Addilyn had loved and given her life to. Hank wanted to bang on the glass and shout that there was no need for him to cry out to God now. His time had run out. Justice would be served today, even if lethal injection was a more merciful way to die than Addilyn was afforded. If it were up to him, he would have Conner murdered in the same way she was – yet so much worse. He would humiliate him in every way possible.

As Conner fell back into a deep sleep, the microphone disappeared back into the ceiling and the doctors began pushing the buttons to administer the medications. The first phase paralyzed his body. The second phase slowly stopped the heart. Hank also sat paralyzed. He watched Conner’s abdomen rise and fall until it finally spasmed and then stopped. His time of death was announced and that was it. Quick, peaceful, and painless. The door was opened for them to exit, but Hank could not stop staring at this man. This picture of evil. Conner’s last words replayed in his head when he suddenly spotted Luke 23:43 written boldly on his right forearm.

Once Hank was finally back to his truck, he began to sob. The truth was, he felt no better. His pain was still there. He held Addilyn’s Bible in his hands and curiously flipped to Luke 23:43, “Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Hank dropped the Bible into his lap as if he had been stung and hit his steering wheel. Conner didn’t deserve paradise!

But when he glanced down again, her Bible was open to a highlighted verse – Micah 6:8. His sweet angel had written beside it, “A COMPLETE heart change.”

She was right. Since her death, his thoughts and actions had been directly opposite of what the Lord required. His focus had been on justice not the One who is Just. Hank had shown no mercy to anyone.

He realized, like Conner, he also needed forgiveness and a COMPLETE heart change. He, too, had no choice but to humble himself and cry out, “Father…today.”