In sad situations like yesterday, sometimes I just need to sort it all out in my head. I hate for this blog to be sad because I like that its my happy place for all my crafts, funny stories, and pictures, but sometimes just writing helps me figure out where to place all the thoughts.
Yesterday was one of my friends birthdays, and to celebrate her big day, we went shopping at one of the bigger malls in Indy. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous because I feel like lately there have been so many shootings in malls and movie theatres lately, and I just had one of those "bad feelings" in my gut. Well, the bad feeling was confirmed when I checked my newsfeed on Facebook while we were shopping and saw the horrible news of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in CT. I felt like my world just stopped and I instantly sent my mother in law a text to see how she and Eli were doing. Then as I started to read all the stories of what happened, I just felt more and more sick.
My first thought was those poor children, and their parents. I can't even start to think about if something like that happened to Eli. Makes me cry. Then I thought about the gunman's poor mother because ever since I became a mom, I look at every person in the world and think they were somebody's precious tiny baby that they love unconditionally. Then come to learn he shot his own mom.
I think in these situations its common to ask "why" or to even question God. Questioning God is something I learned not to do a long time ago, and instead I chose to trust Him wholly and completely for His grace is sufficient. However, I do think immediately after asking "why" our society wants to find someone of something to blame. Be it politics, the economy, parenting, gun control, school security...the list goes on and on.
Unfortunately I think its also quite disappointing to see how the news media can take this horrible tragedy and then just turn it into a mess. I personally don't want to see or hear details of the shooting, and seeing these poor children being interviewed on tv seems irresponsible to me to a degree. Then I think, gosh all we are hearing about is the shooter and his background and why he did it, so on and so on.
Well, instead of focusing on the evil, I want to seek out the heroes in the situation. Not to ignore that there is obviously a problem with society, but to celebrate that there is GOOD out there. Maybe by focusing on the good more, it could help some of those troubled souls out there. Instead of making Ryan Lanza a household name that will be remembered forever, I want to remember the names of some other people:
Vicki Soto: This 27 year old woman hid her students in the classroom closets and when the shooter asked where they were, she lied and told them they were in the gym. What a hero! Not one of her students fell victim and I'm sure the parents of those 16 kids are thanking God for an angel like her!
Janet Vollmer: This teacher not only protected her classroom of students by locking the door and herding them into a corner, but there, she found enough strength and composure to read the children a story. Thankfully, she and all of her students survived.
These are just two of the uplifting stories I have read. I'm sure many more will come to surface as the dust of this tragedy settles. My parents posted a quote on Facebook yesterday that I love:
"When I was a boy and I could see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster', i remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers--so many caring people in this world." --Mister Rogers
I think that all I can do besides pray, is to not only look for the helpers, but to be one. You never know how one tiny gesture that you do could completely change someone's day, week, month, year, or life.
Praying that I can always show my appreciation and love for those around me, and that I can bring my son up in this corrupt and evil world remembering that this life is only temporary, for our everlasting life exists only with God.
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