scenes from a morning

after yesterday's tragedy, it's hard to want to leave the house.
it seems the safest to stay in our little cocoon.
keep away from the outside world.
protect our littles from everything that's evil and bad in this world.
but we are called to be LIGHT.
light IN the darkness.
not light away from the darkness.
no one can make sense of what happened.
why so many children and innocent people had to die.
we will question God and ask why He allowed this to happen.
we will be frustrated, crying out to Him.
but we know that He is sovereign.
He has a plans and those plans aren't always known to us.
there is evil... but He will overcome.
bring your requests, your sadness, your burdens, your pain, your heaviness, your questions to Him.
take comfort in His word.

two verses that i put up on facebook this morning that have been giving me comfort:

if you don't know what you're doing, pray to the father. he loves to help.
james 1:5

if we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter.  he does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.
romans 8:27-28

we have a slight connection to the shootings yesterday.
a little girl died who just moved to connecticut with her family who used to live in the city near us.
this family went to my brother and sister in law's church, the kids went to school with kids of our friends, etc.
we didn't know this family personally at all... but they were connected to people in our life.
it just hits home that much more.
i have heard that the mother to this little girl is putting up verse after verse on her facebook page.
she's clinging to the hope we have in Jesus during this time.
what an amazing gift we've been given... to know that amidst the pain, there is hope!
God is in the middle of this tragedy.
we can choose to make Him the centre of this and find healing...
or we can choose to hang on to the anger of the situation.
don't get me wrong... that anger is certainly warranted.
certainly.
but anger and revenge and vengeance isn't going to bring healing to anyone.
i'm not sure what will happen from this point on.
i'm not even sure how i will feel a few hours from now.
all i know is that i want to keep my loved ones close right now.
i want to kiss the top of their heads and tell them i love them.
i want to say the things that truly matter to the ones i love.
i don't want to hold back on living life the way it's meant to be lived.
with love... hope... and victory!
because nothing is guaranteed in this life.
life can end in a fraction of a second... so cherish what you have, today.
xoxoxo