Sandy Hook Elementary School

Today started out completely normal. I got out of bed, I got dressed, went to the bank, and then ate some lunch. I thought that it was pretty awesome that I didn't check my facebook or twitter feeds. I didn't think that today was a big deal, so I proceeded to eat my sandwich, watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother, and chuckled to myself as the comedy played on my screen. Then I checked twitter, and saw a dear friend's tweet about her extended family suffering on the east coast.

I immediately moved to my computer from my phone, and investigated more, and I couldn't believe what I was reading and seeing. Video clips of children being guided around, crying and holding on to each other. Articles saying that the shooter not only killed 20 children, 6 adults, but among the adults is his own mother, who was a teacher's aide at Sandy Hook, before taking his own life.

It is a terrible tragedy, today on December 14th. I can't even imagine the pain and suffering that the families of the murdered are going through. The parents of these innocent children are never going to see these beautiful angels grow up. They're not going to be able to hug or kiss their kids. They're not going to be able to hear their babies say "I love you, Mommy!" or "I love you, Daddy!" or embarrass them to their friends or future boyfriends or girlfriends. They're not going to be able to ground them for doing something stupid or praise them for doing something great. I'm not a parent yet, but I think that this is one of my worst nightmares.

I think the worst part about this whole thing is that those kids that survived are going to be scarred for life. They're going to have to go through life after witnessing this tragedy, and maybe, when they've grown up, they won't remember it every day, but this is the kind of thing that will haunt their nightmares. It will be the kind of thing that will cause them to distance themselves. It will be the kind of thing that they won't get over in a day, or month, or maybe even this lifetime. These survivors are going to ask themselves, "Why me? Why did I survive? Why did God let this happen to my friends? Why did this happen at all? How could someone be so completely heartless and do this? I was so young."

I'm praying for the families of the little children, but not just the ones that had a terrible ending, but the survivors as well. I'm praying that parents who lost their angels will know that their angels are now with our Father in Heaven now, and they're in a safe place, waiting for them to pass on and be with them. I pray that they won't be scared that their kids are gone forever, because they're not. They're going to follow you and help you. They're going to be your angels still. I'm praying for the families of the survivors and for the survivors themselves, that they will be able to be normal kids one day. That they won't have to fear everything. I can't even imagine how scared these kids and families are right now. And I'm praying that they won't feel like they have to be.

Today started out completely normal. They got out of bed, got dressed, probably ate some breakfast, and went off to school and work. They didn't think today was a big deal. It's almost Christmas, and the 7th day of Hanukkah! It's a time to celebrate and be with our families and it's almost winter break! They weren't ready for it. They weren't expecting it. It ended in tragedy. Please join me in praying for these families, and please pray for your own families. Let them know as often as you can how much you love them. Please hug them and kiss them. You never know when you're going to lose them.