Peace, Hope, and Comfort

It seems weird to write a cheerful holiday post. I have wanted to blog all weekend... but it was hard to know what to say in light if the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. As an educator, an armed intruder in my school has always been my worst fear, and it is also the husband's. (He is an educator, too.) I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with everyone associated with Sandy Hook School: the victims' families, the survivors' families, and the officials charged with investigating this terrible tragedy.

I also am thinking about and praying for my fellow teacher friends who are struggling to find the right words to say when asked difficult questions by their students. I think all of us are asking the question, "Why?" Why would someone do something like this? I think we want someone or something to blame, because if we can find the cause, then we can make sense of this. But the truth is...there is no one person or event to blame.

 

Instead of asking myself questions that I know cannot be answered, I am choosing to pray for peace, hope, and comfort for everyone involved...and when I say everyone involved, I mean everyone in the country...the world even...because the effects of this event are far-reaching.

 

This morning, I had the pleasure of visiting a school and watching 4 classes of beautiful students sing, dance, and play handbells to a room full of smiling parents, teachers, children, and administrators, and it did my heart a lot of good. It was all about celebrating this wonderful time of year and wonderful children. Like I said, it did my heart a lot of good.

I'll be back soon with a post about a fun goodie swap with girlfriends... but just needed to say this first.

 

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