A Miracle, Kindness & Other Things
Though I don't know anyone who has been directly affected by the Newtown tragedy, but for my friend's daughter, it was a near miss. She lives around the corner from the school & her son will be 5 next month. She tried registering him for school this past fall, but they legally couldn't let him in due to his age. If it weren't for that, he could very well have been in that classroom. This, we concluded, was a miracle!
So it's been very hard here in CT, dealing with the enormity of it. The poor town is inundated with media & gawkers, according to my friend's daughter. It will be a long time till the town is at peace once again. In our city, they've upped the police presence around the schools. All one can do is pray & pray some more.
On Sunday our pastor touched on, "what if a youth worker had reached out to the shooter when he was younger? Maybe a difference could have been made." That got me to thinking: it doesn't even have to be a youth worker--just anyone showing they cared, that the world is not so full of despair as this guy may have thought (if that was what he was thinking). And you never know who may be the potential desperate person, so isn't it a good idea to show some act of kindness & compassion to all? Even just a please & thank you, holding a door open for someone, listening to them vent about something, or giving to the needy like at a food pantry or something. So I got a little more out of my selfish zone this weekend & really took the time to enjoy reaching out. I guess you could say I have a new motive. And I hope it lasts.
We enjoyed our annual party that we attend this past Saturday. Great to see old friends. And on Sunday, our family did our Christmas light drive, which included stopping in & giving cookies to my friend's elderly mother. She always looks forward to us coming & we like the stop too. Tonight we go to the high school's 75th annual Christmas Concert, which is very, very special & very, very Christmasy!
So it's been very hard here in CT, dealing with the enormity of it. The poor town is inundated with media & gawkers, according to my friend's daughter. It will be a long time till the town is at peace once again. In our city, they've upped the police presence around the schools. All one can do is pray & pray some more.
On Sunday our pastor touched on, "what if a youth worker had reached out to the shooter when he was younger? Maybe a difference could have been made." That got me to thinking: it doesn't even have to be a youth worker--just anyone showing they cared, that the world is not so full of despair as this guy may have thought (if that was what he was thinking). And you never know who may be the potential desperate person, so isn't it a good idea to show some act of kindness & compassion to all? Even just a please & thank you, holding a door open for someone, listening to them vent about something, or giving to the needy like at a food pantry or something. So I got a little more out of my selfish zone this weekend & really took the time to enjoy reaching out. I guess you could say I have a new motive. And I hope it lasts.
We enjoyed our annual party that we attend this past Saturday. Great to see old friends. And on Sunday, our family did our Christmas light drive, which included stopping in & giving cookies to my friend's elderly mother. She always looks forward to us coming & we like the stop too. Tonight we go to the high school's 75th annual Christmas Concert, which is very, very special & very, very Christmasy!
Replies
DEAR FRIEND, IT IS SAD WHAT HAPPEND, THE PREACHER ALSO SHOULD PREACH THE GOSPEL IN HIS FULLNESS GO BACK TO THE OLD TESTAMENT AND ASK FORGIVENESS FOR THE EVIL OUR ANCESTOR DID, I LOOKED AND I WAS CRYING FOR THESE LITTLE ONES AND FOR THE ONES THAT DIED IN THE PAST, THERE IS ALL THE HYSTORY AND TO READ IT BREAKS MY HEART, I ALWAYS ASK \'\'GOD\'\' FORGIVENESS FOR WHAT EVIL MY FAMILY DID, BECAUSE I RESEARCHED AND I KNOW, AND I SAY\'\'HOW COULD THEY DO IT\'\', LOVING HUGS LUCY**
THEY ARE ALL IN HEAVEN, NEVER TO KNOW EVIL**