As you all may have heard by now, there was a tragic mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut early yesterday morning. It is with a very heavy heart that I state 20 children and 6 adults were killed. Although our nation still remains in great shock over these horrific events, school shootings are becoming very familiar in America. This event really hit home for me because I work in an elementary school that is about the same size as Sandy Hook E.S. Every day, I walk into the building and the joy those children bring me is beyond what words can describe! They are our future and I love them all!
Yesterday, I went home and I read countless Facebook status posts, twitter messages, and tweetgram messages on Instagram about this senseless tragedy. All I could think about was praying for these people. It is about 10 days before Christmas and families are torn to pieces with grief and an unanswered question of "Why?"
Many of the posts I read were posts of anger labeling the gun man as "crazy", "sick", "evil", and the list goes on. I don't know what the motive for this was, but all I could think of was mental illness. Many of the shootings that have taken place in our nation have been committed by someone who suffers from a mental illness (depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, etc.). All of these illnesses are real and we must educate ourselves and get the people who are suffering the help they need!
I can't put this all on mental illness because the case is still being investigated. We still don't know why. In the mean time, prayers for those who are too weak to pray on their own are much needed right now! I can't stop thinking about everyone affected! The parents of the children who were killed, the family members of the staff members who were slain, the children in the building who were there to witness their classmates be murdered, the staff members who had to think as fast as they could to protect the children in their classroom, the members of the community who never thought this would happen in a town like Newtown. They all need our prayers right now.
Times like this are times when we need to cling to God! To seek him and really rely on Him to get us through. Some people will be angry with God, swearing He is nowhere to be found because how could He let this happen? God is always there and we don't know why things happen the way they do, but despite this tragedy, the rest of our nation is coming together grieving with these people. We are pulling together to host candle light vigils in honor and memory of the slain victims. We are interceding on their behalf to pray for peace, comfort, and joy to come in the morning. God is working in the lives of so many of us right now! I even saw a Facebook post that said "I"m not really religious, but I'm praying for these people". Now that's God! Tragedy does that sometimes. We can't control what happened or change it, but we can control our reaction. My reaction is to mourn with these people, but mainly to pray for them. My reaction is to continue to spread the love of Jesus and to believe his word that he will comfort those who mourn (Matthew 5:4), he will heal the brokenhearted and bind their wounds (Psalm 147:3), and that these children will come to Jesus and be among the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:4).
God bless Newtown, Connecticut and God Bless America!
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