BROKENHEARTED

That's the only way I can describe my feelings at the moment - brokenhearted. When I read about the shootings today, I cried. I wasn't the only one. Seasoned news anchors choked up on air, and the President couldn't get all of his prepared statement out - as a dad I'm sure he was thinking of his own daughters.

I've tried several times to write about what happened today at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Nothing comes out right - my words are inadequate and trite in the face of such a tragedy.

What do you say about a horror of this magnitude? My mind can't wrap itself around the fact that a 20-year-old man went into a school and opened fire on a kindergarten classroom. Who does something like that? Well, I guess I know the answer to that - someone who is very ill and broken because nobody in their right mind would do something like this.

It makes me angry and sad and sick all at the same time. I wish there was something I could do to comfort the grieving families, but there isn't really. Nothing I can say or do will take away their pain and loss. Nothing anyone can do can bring their child back to them.

This morning, their arms were full. Tonight, they are empty. There will be empty rooms filled with dolls and trucks that nobody will play with. There will be an empty chair at the table. Christmas gifts that were bought, won't ever be opened.

It's difficult to wrap my mind around a loss of that magnitude. I wish, in this space, I could offer up an explanation as to why God allowed this to happen, but I can't.

Life in our fallen world is often difficult and hard and sometimes, like today, tragic. So, I have to go back to what I DO know because God never changes - no matter what is happening around us.

I know God is good.
I know God loves each of those children beyond our imagining.
I know God grieves with each family.
I know God is gracious and compassionate and full of mercy.
I know God will not leave us or abandon us.
I know God is ever ready source of help during any trouble.
I know God will use even something horrible like this for good, if we let Him.

"The Lord is near to the broken hearted, and He saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all." ~ Psalms 34:18, 19

I will be praying for all those who lost someone today, and for all the kids, teachers, first responders, and others who will forever be touched by what they saw and experienced today. I will also be praying for the family of the shooter. I can't imagine their thoughts and feelings and loss either.

~ Blessings, Bronte