praying for newtown... and others

It's seems a little frivolous and shallow to discuss what's been happening in the Baker house in light of what occurred in Connecticut on Friday. So that download will occur on another day.

My list of prayers surrounding the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, CT is too long. Too long.

When I hear "Columbine" I, along with most Americans, don't need any explanation. Unfortunately, Shady Hook is going to have the same infamy.

Columbine occurred when I was in middle school, so I don't remember it having a big impact on me. And Adam and I don't have kids, so while it was heart wrenching to hear that so many tiny lives (and guardian angels in the form of teachers) lost their lives in Newtown - I could not (and hope to never have to) relate to their families' pain. However, when they released the names and little faces of all those that lost their lives on Friday morning, I lost it. That paired with the fact that Adam said "those shots must have ripped through their bodies" just about knocked me to my knees. (Side note: Adam knows guns and wasn't trying to be insensitive, he was absolutely disgusted at the type of gun used.)

This brave blog post (http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html) is one of the greatest things I've seen come out of this tragedy. I have to agree wholeheartedly. Guns are not the issue, untreated mental illness is the issue. I'm not going to turn this into my soapbox about "guns don't kill people, people kill people" - but there were zero guns used on 9/11.

As I type this, I just recently learned that an childhood neighbor died early this morning. Sean Callahan was only 24 and died while protecting and serving... as a police officer in Clayton County, Ga.

I am so saddened by these unnecessary acts of violence over the past few days. I am so sorry for those whose lives are permanently flipped upside down.

I'm going to finish with this....Andy Stanley was on a local radio show, The Bert Show, yesterday morning and brought hope to my heart. I love when people, like Andy, have the ability to comfort the masses with Scripture without offending anyone or - for lack of a better phrase - shoving Jesus down my throat. He spoke so eloquently and I was just so impressed and comforted. Here is a link that will take you to the conversation (you'll need to scroll down a bit): http://thebertshow.com/ctshooting/.

"Jesus wept."
John 11:35