Blake Bivens, the minor-league baseball player who lost his wife and child in a horrific shooting earlier this week, has broken his silence with a heart-wrenching Facebook post.
Emily and little one-year-old Cullen Bivens were gunned down by Blake’s brother-in-law on Tuesday. The suspect has since been charged with triple murder — the third victim was his own mother, who he also shot dead.
Now, just days after the slayings, Blake has posted an absolutely heartbreaking message to Facebook, saying that his heart has been “turned to ash.”
“My life as I knew it is destroyed. The pain my family and I feel is unbearable and cannot be put into words. I shake and tremble at the thought of our future without them,” Bivens wrote.
He continued:
“Emily, my sweetheart, you are the best wife and mother this world has ever seen. You made me into the man I am today and you loved me with all of my flaws. You brought our precious baby boy into this world and made our family complete. Your love and kindness changed countless lives, including mine.
My sweet little boy, dada loves you so much! I can’t breathe without you here. I finally understood what love was when you were born and I would have done anything for you. You have changed my life forever, you are my reason why. I long to hold the both of you again in heaven. I’m so glad you are with all your Great-grandmothers now, I know they are eating you up. This earth did not deserve either of you; you were just too wonderful to comprehend.”
But despite the unfathomable heartache and pain, Bivens declared that he was looking to Jesus the midst of his grief.
“We will not let the devil win!” he said. “Thank you God for giving me the most wonderful family in the world! I’ve been blessed beyond belief.”
“I am comforted by all the messages and well wishes,” Blake concluded. “I’m not sure what is next for me, but I do know God has a plan even though I can’t see it.”
A GoFundMe campaign set up as the “Emily Bivens Family Fund” has raised just under $60,000, with prayers and condolences pouring in for Blake and his wider family.
“This is a tragedy beyond comprehension,” one person wrote. “God hold you in His Hands as you try to put your life back together. I’m so sorry for your losses.”
Emily and Blake married in 2016, before having Cullen in 2018. On her Instagram, Emily described herself as, a “follower of Jesus” and someone who was “Amazed by His grace.” On Facebook, she battled fiercely for pro-life causes.
Alongside being mother to Cullen, Emily also wrote for Baseball Chapel — an organization that provides spiritual support to professional baseball players and their families.
In an article dated July 31 of this year, Emily talked candidly about how God guides us through the storms of life. Basing her post on the Luke 8 story of Jesus calming the storm, Bivens implored that God is with us all the time and declared that he has the power to help us through life’s inevitable difficulties.
“There are so many circumstances in our lives and the lives of people we have the privilege of knowing that looked bad at first, but were turned around for good,” she wrote. “I’m sure you can think of many in your own life as well. God is a Master at making things beautiful (Ecclesiastes 3).”
Emily went on to encourage anyone who was going through a rough time to keep seeking after the Lord. “Whatever you are going through, put your hand in the hand of the God Who can see over your mountains and past your storms because sometimes, on the other side of the storm, the beauty in His plan is even more evident than before,” she wrote.
Murdered mom full of “the light of Jesus”
Emily’s mother, Joan, was also killed in the shooting. She was described in her obituary as having “devoted her life to being the best Mama and Nana there ever was.”
“She was an active member of her church family at Central Boulevard Church of God,” the obit continued. “The light of Jesus poured from her onto everyone she met. She treasured her family and spent most of her time with them.”
Emily’s father was at the house of the time of the killings but was unhurt.
Continue to pray for Blake and the family at this devastating time.