Living in Faith, not Fear

As a mother of three I feel that I need to address the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. There is no doubt that what happened to those sweet children was horrifying and pure evil. When you send your child to elementary school it should be one of the safest places for them. I can not imagine the pain of those parents, of the other students watching their friends die and how scared they must have been, and of the first responders and the horrific scene they went in to. I'm sure those images will be forever burned into their minds and I pray that they can find peace.

I've been reading a lot on Facebook about people being afraid to send their kids to school. Yes I too wanted to see and hug my children as soon as I had heard what had happened. But what would picking them up from school early do except raise questions as to why I did so? My husband and I chose not to share with the kids what had happened. I think they are too little and if they go to school today and hear about it then we will discuss it. I know it's scary but are we going to let fear rule our lives? Think of all the things we would miss out on if we lived in fear.

In thinking and reading about the shooting this weekend as well as other recent shootings and events I have come to a realization and that is that I refuse to live my life in fear and instead I am going to choose to live in faith. I have a strong faith. I know that God has a plan for each of our lives that only he knows. Our children are gifts from God that he has given us to care for and nurture and raise up to love and praise him. This is my job. I would be doing my kids a disservice if I were to teach them to fear going to school, the mall or really any other public place. Instead I will teach them to have faith in God and his plan and to live their lives to glorify him. And I will cherish and thank God for every moment I have with them. I will continue to pray for them, their friends, classmates, teachers and school administrators. And I will continue to pray for the community of Newtown.

"May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." -Numbers 6:24-26