A prayer request

Dear friends,

 

I know I haven’t blogged lately, but I’m trusting that you will respond to the prayer request I have for you. A newly hired professor at my school lost two of his young daughters (aged three and six) on Tuesday by the means of a car accident. Please keep the souls of Olivia and Emma in your prayers, as well as their parents, Sean and Becca, and their surviving sister, Vivian. 

If you have even five dollars to spare, I urge that you donate it to this fund which is raising money to help with medical expenses, funeral arrangements, and other support that the family will need. Not all scars are visible, and this family is going to need the help of God and His people on earth.

God bless, and if you have a prayer request for me to post, please let me know!

One year

The center of town on the first anniversary of the horrific tragedy.

On December 13th 2012, I had to stand in line for security as I prepared to fly home after finishing my first semester of college. I complained about the long lines and that I had to pack a month’s worth of clothing and shoes into two small duffle bags. I got off the plane, and when I walked towards the gate, I saw my dad waiting for me. I ran to him and gave him a huge hug before going to baggage claim.

The next morning, my mom was watching the news. I asked her to change the channel, because the news depresses me. Literally moments later, our local news station announced that there was a shooting at an elementary school 45 minutes away from my house. 

I couldn’t breathe. Reilly, my seven year old cousin, lives in Newtown, and attends public school there. I had never been so afraid in my life. I soon found out that he attends another school, and was safe. I would find out later that his best friend is a student at SHES and was in the class of second graders told to cover their eyes as they passed the body of their principal. This sweet seven year old boy had seen the body of his beloved principal, unrecognizable after being shot at.

I saw a girl I graduated from high school with tweet saying that no one had heard from her cousin Vicki, who was a teacher at the school. Vicki did not make it out alive. Vicki Soto helped save some of her students, and I am so proud to say that we graduated from the same high school and were from the same town. She is Stratford’s Hero.

Where was God during this? God was in the community who supported each other, teachers who died protecting their students, the first responders who put aside their pain to care for those who needed their care.

Today, my heart breaks for 26 families who lost a child, a sibling, a parent, a cousin, a friend. 20 little souls who will never get to go to college, and whose parents will never experience a hug from them again. 

Sandy Hook: “Evil did not win”

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:5

what true joy looks like. you might be surprised

Every life has pain. No one gets by without suffering. But I have witnessed a life that is born out of suffering. And it is beautiful. And because we can’t rewind the past, we need to live fully in the present. Because our hope is in Jesus Christ, and the life everlasting to come after all is said and done. And I want heaven. I want it for me, I want it for my husband, I want it for  my children. And I want it for you. I want that more than anything in Pottery Barn. But we need to trust.

Read the rest of the post here

26 Acts of Kindness

Starting today, I will be participating in 26 Acts of Kindness in memory of the 26 lives lost in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. I invite you all to do the same. I’m really excited because I will also be blogging my process, and praying especially for one victim each day using the praying in color method and also a decade of the rosary for their family and friends.The image shows the order I will be going in. I hope that you will all consider joining in.