Heartbroken

It has been nearly a week since tragedy struck Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut.  I have not had any words to express my sorrow here although I have thought of and prayed for those sweet faces and their families several times a day since.  It terrifies me to think of that kind of crazy evil in the world- where precious little innocent hearts are taken on the whim of a mad man.  

I pray that those precious children knew how much they were and forever will be loved.  I pray that they recognized their parent's love for them despite possible hurried words uttered while rushing out the door for school that Friday morning.  I pray that they were ushered quickly into the arms of Jesus and away from that horrible scene.  I pray for those students and teachers who will forever walk with their memories of that horrific day.  I pray for the families who will have one giant gaping hole in their holiday celebrations this year and every single year to come.  I pray for hearts of mothers who can never recover what was taken from them last Friday morning.  I pray for households filled with the silence of a life that ended too soon.  I pray for those whose hearts are dangling by a thread over a pit of unthinkable despair.  I pray for a community whose sense of safety and comfort has been forever shattered. I pray for the first responders who had to walk into that tragic scene not knowing what they would find only to discover the worst possible scenario.  I pray for all of us in our society that we would find value and treasure the innocence of our children and do everything we possibly can to fiercely guard it against the evil so intent and desperate for its destruction.  

I thank God that he is a God who sees, who loves, who comforts, who avenges, who remembers, who restores, who renews, who loves children and who is always present with us, even (and especially) in the darkest of moments.  It is when the dark seems the darkest that light shines the brightest.  Thank you, Lord Jesus.  Please come back soon.