A Day of Silence for Newtown

There are no recipes today, as my heart is broken along with the nation.

I will always remember where I stood when my husband came into the bedroom as I was gathering clothes. He looked sad and serious.  Fighting back tears, he said, “I might as well tell you now, because you’re going to hear about it.” My first thought was “oh no, who died?” When he said it was a school shooting in an early age elementary school, I burst into tears.”

We were grief stricken for children we never met.  I have never cried upon the news of a school shooting before. This was different. It hit home. We have children in our life in pre-school. Whatever we processed in those few moments upon learning the news can’t be described. We felt vulnerable, and overtaken by a sickened grief, knowing only briefly the pain the parents will face in the hard road of loss that lies ahead.

We wanted to sit with those parents and scream and cry with them. We want them to know that we care deeply, very deeply. We want them to know that this is unique. It feels like our whole country has made the children our children. Millions of tears are being shed across America. I’ve never seen an entire country take a tragedy so personal, not since 9/11.

Friday was not a great day for us on earth.  I kept praying throughout the day for the parents. I couldn’t get them off my mind. As I continued to pray, God gave me peace in my heart. I shared that peace on facebook. I’m a believer, and I have faith that the last word of love and justice always belongs to God. We don’t always get to see it, which is why it’s called faith. In the meantime, we suffer before we understand.

Here is what I wrote on facebook and I believe it’s what God wanted me to share.

Those precious children may not sit on the lap of Santa this Christmas, but I believe with all my heart, that tonight they are on the lap of Jesus. He is our only hope and my trust and faith is in Him. I don’t want to discuss the gunman, guns or the politics. I want to take this thought all the way out to Jesus who defeated evil and has promised eternal life. My prayer tonight is for the Comforter to come to the parents, and supernaturally sing peace over them, and I intend to pray this prayer every day.  

Moms, dads, remember your teachers well this year. Their job is not easy. We entrust them to protect our children. They willingly and lovingly take the vulnerable under their wings. Let’s reward them deeply this year and give them the prayer of comfort and joy to keep them going.

A fellow food blogger asked that we gather together in support and not post any recipes today in memory and they suggested we could use the following.