"Don't Worry, My Dad is a Police Officer"

I was able to block out the Newtown shootings until Sunday when I picked up the paper and saw the pictures of the little faces of those that lost their lives.  I started reading the little segments about each child and their favorite things to do.  I had to stop after a few because I was getting choked up and my kids wanted some eggs and bacon.  This morning one news channel interviewed a little boy from the school who said he told the other kids in his class it would be ok, because his dad is a police officer and he would be coming soon.  My thoughts wandered to how these little kids are coping with this jarring event and it took me back to 9-11 and turning on the news after I’d heard a plane hit one of the twin towers.  In the early minutes I don’t remember anyone thinking it was an attack.  I was amazed that an accident of that size could happen.  Not long afterward, the second plane hit the second tower and the shock hit. This wasn’t an accident.  I think most Americans felt the same thing I felt as I looked at my little kids, that they would never grow up in the same world I grew up in.  The thought that my kids might grow up without the innocence and security I wanted them to feel hurt as much as knowing that people were dead and dying in New York. 

Most of the time I feel like I have some kind of control over my children’s future.  And then catastrophe happens and I realize I don’t have any control at all.  I can feed them and clothe them and tuck them in at night, but that doesn’t guarantee their safety.  So I go to God, the only place I know to go when there are no other answers that make sense.  And he says, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you.  They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul.” Matthew 10:28.  That doesn’t take away my feelings of sadness, because the shooting was more than just sad.  It’s devastating.  But it helps me feel like that little boy who was counting on his dad to come save him.  Not many of those kids in the school could claim they had a father who could come rescue them, but all of us have the opportunity to claim God as our father and know that He has already rescued us by coming to earth as a baby and later, dying to save us. So, instead of being sad and afraid, that little boy motivates me to be brave in the midst of danger and tell others, "Don't worry, my dad is the savior! He WILL come rescue us...if you let Him."

I read my friend, Mary’s blog today.  She’s an excellent writer and put it so much better than I can.  So, I encourage you to go to her site.  Her writing is short and sweet and full of artwork and magic and hope.

http://www.thirtytwoyellowwalls.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-answer.html