Heart-sick.

News of the elementary school shooting today in Newtown, CT has left me shaken, sickened, horrified.  I visited Newtown in grade school to stay with my pen pal Karen Lawlor one weekend.  It's a small town, like any small town in America.  A small town full of people just living their lives.  And today their small town has been victimized, touched by evil.

Today, I beg the Lord to come soon and redeem this broken, broken mess .  When days are good, I want to stay here on earth as long as possible, to continue experiencing the joy, beauty, and delight that's possible here.  But on days like these, I'm reminded how we are dust, how it's all temporary, how life in Heaven will make this sorry earth look like garbage compared to what's awaiting us there.

The worst part is, this news story will all "blow over" in a few days, but these families will still be left to face life without their sweet children.  How?  It's unfathomable.  As a parent, I honestly don't know how I would survive this.

For now, there is only one option for me - to believe there will be redemption.  There is comfort. 

Lord, break our hearts like those parents who lost their children.  Let us fight for the light that overcomes the darkness.  Let us wait in hopeful expectation for the redemption that will come.

Obama's speech was beautiful.