Every time tragedy strikes, I become a prisoner of my own mind.
During the day, I'm full of sadness and empathy; I read every interview, testimony, and news report I can find online to get details from all angles of the story. I put myself in the shoes of the victims ...or at least in the shoes of the victims' families, constantly wondering what I would've done or said in the moment and also trying to imagine how I would ever find the strength to pick up all the broken pieces and start putting my life back together in the days and weeks to come. This stuff we're living through right now is heavy. Whether miles or hours or states away, these events are not isolated. They rock us to our cores. The human heart was made for Love, and when senseless evil occurs it really changes our views of the world ...of other people ...of ourselves ...and maybe even of our purpose here.
When the sun sets and nighttime falls, I switch gears and become full of worry and anger. There's something about the darkness that encourages fear to fester. I lie in bed and rake my mind over and over and OVER the coals just trying to get a grasp on how we've spiraled downward into who we are. Not just America as a country, but the human race as a whole. Who have we become? ...How have we strayed so far from the people we were created to be? Also! How can we protect our babies from this insanity? ...We can't keep them under our wings in a completely protected nest forever. Will things get worse? Have I already failed my babies? Will they ever be safe outside our home?
Last night, my mind was going one hundred miles per hour and randomly came to a screeching stop when I remembered I had this blurb saved on my phone. I originally saved it from a Facebook post that my friend Jamie shared a few years back, and I find so much comfort in reading it every now and then when I feel like -- despite our deepest desires to foster a safe and loving environment for our children to grow up in -- the world has ultimately failed our babies:
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"Don't feel sorry for or fear for your kids because they world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be.
God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they're in. Their life wasn't a coincidence or an accident.
Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God.
Train them up in the authority of his Word.
Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control.
Empower them to know they can change the world.
Don't teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.
Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God's sovereign plan.
He knew Daniel could handle the lion's den.
He knew David could handle Goliath.
He knew Esther could handle Haman.
He knew Peter could handle persecution.
He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!
Don't be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime.
Rise up to the challenge.
Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers, and Peters!
God isn't scratching his head wondering what He's going to do with this mess of a world.
He has an army He's raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth.
Don't let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it's hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this."
~ Alex Cravens
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"They were born as such a time as this." While I often feel so hopeless in being able to change the world, that blurb always gives me goosebumps and brings me back to a clearer focus. And while a ton of my friends on social media have been hating on the "thoughts and prayers"...you know, this post:
...I have to say, I disagree. Of course policy and change is a must, but so are thoughts and prayers. Love casts out fear, and love is the essence and vocation of the human heart. If we dial it back down to the basics and work really really really hard to build up a strong foundation of love for ourselves ...for our families ...for others also in the Body of Christ, I think the policy and change would come naturally whether our politicians choose to intervene or not.
So #BRB while my babies and I are down on our knees praying for the victims and victims' families -- and even the gunman and the gunman's family -- of the latest school shooting. BRB while we allow our hearts love as they were created to do. BRB while I continue to show them that love casts out fear. BRB while we take it back to the basics and start building up a super strong foundation of love for others. BRB while I empower them to know they can change the world. BRB while they grow and flourish and rise up to the challenge, because they know they were born for such a time as this.
My very deepest desire is that all of you reading this also feel inspired to rise up to the challenge of raising Daniels, Davids, Esthers, and Peters! ...For surely if we dust off our hearts' vocations, uncover true love, and therefore let Love shine, we will become the army placed here to drive back the darkness.
We were born for such a time as this.
Let's let Love win!!!
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