His

It took a while to sink in; a tragedy of proportions too great to wrap ones mind around.  Now, after so long of seeing their faces on the computer screen, I have to shut it and walk away.  I like all of you, am so filled with nausea and grief, and incomprehension.  Why? We all keep asking; as if knowing the answer will assuage our sorrow, or prevent it from happening again., But the answer to why will  not make it go away: it is our sin, the brokenness of our world; a world that wants to pick and choose when God should be present and relevant in our lives.  In times like these we are overwhelmed by it's brokenness. We are discouraged.  The consuming destruction of sin seems inescapable.

One of my facebook friends said events like this make her consider homeschooling.  I hear what she is saying.  How can we send our children into this world? The reality is, they are not safe anywhere.  There are shootings in shopping malls and theaters, abductions in quiet neighborhoods.  We can not protect our children.

How, then, do we go on?  There is only one way.  We must send them into this world knowing, they are His. They are gifts, for us to shepherd for a time, and should they be taken from us, they will go only to the comforting arms of Jesus, who loves them even more than we do.  We send them with the purpose that they should be light in a dark world. The only way to survive in such times is to overwhelm the darkness.  We cannot do this alone, but as the body of Christ, we can.   We are called to live, and teach our children to live in such a way, that our kindness and love shines into the world, and causes those who despair to look to the one place that hope remains;, He is mighty; he can use even darkness to turn others to Him, He uses our light  to help them find their way.

We cannot prevent evil.  We can not eliminate danger. We can not solve the problem by looking for someone to blame, but what we must do, is unite to show with our love, that Jesus is still real and present.  We must go forth boldly, "as sheep among wolves" to be"shrewd as snakes, and harmless as doves." For He knew what we would encounter, and He promised to be our hope, the hope of our children, and of all those that love him.  We can not teach our children to walk in fear by being afraid ourselves. The ending has already been written; let us not forget, the enemy looses.  Love conquers.  Do not despair, we are His, let's try to live like it.