On February 9^th 2007, Chris Williams took his fully pregnant wife and three youngest children out for ice cream. The other child was at a friends house and did not join them. On their return, a drunk driver broadsided them with tremendous force. Chris passed out for a short moment and when he revived the scene that he saw changed his life. His wife and their unborn child, and two of the three children in the car were all dead. He was in excruciating pain and noticed that his surviving child is also badly hurt. He looked outside the window and saw that the other vehicle had overturned. Before he could allow himself to feel anger and bitterness, he heard a “small prompting of the Spirit; it was straightforward and filled with power, and the voice said, “Let it go!” At that moment he decided to make the choice to forgive the other driver and not allow this incident to further destroy his life and that of his two surviving children.

A while later, Chris was informed that the driver was a 17 year old boy, Cameron White, who had consumed significant amounts of alcohol. To make things worse, he had walked away without a scratch! When Chris heard this news he was glad that he had decided to ‘Let it go!’. He was surprised with the fact that he felt no anger towards Cameron; instead he felt an overwhelming love for this young boy.

While in juvenile detention, they connected and Cameron asked Chris “After all that I’ve done to your family, how is it that you were able to forgive me?” Chris replied, “If there is anything you have seen me do, or heard me say, or have read about me regarding forgiveness, you should know that it was merely the Savior working through me.” A huge weight was lifted off of Cameron. Till that time he could not see past his own guilt and shame. But now, suddenly, he knew with clarity that he wanted to a live a life that was useful to others.

Today Cameron travels around the world urging teenagers to refrain from alcohol. He uses his compelling story and continues to change many lives.

Chris in now remarried to a widow with two Children and they have two children of their own. He says his family is complete now.

This story was life changing for me. Chris made a conscious decision to forgive displaying an unusually high level of emotional intelligence. Success in people leadership is critically linked to the emotional maturity of the leader. Cameron’s life could have been destroyed if Chris did not forgive him. The leadership skills that Chris displayed helped save a life who is now doing work that is saving hundreds of young lives daily. So directly Chris saved one life but through Cameron how more lives are being saved!

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” – Scott Adams

I encourage you to forgive and create ripples with no logical end.

Click here to see this beautiful story written by Chris Williams