Monday, October 22, 2012

Thankfulness in the wake of tragedy

Yesterday's tragedy was something most people watched unfold on the news. The horror of what happened yesterday affects everyone because as humans our hearts break when something so sensless happens. For me thought, this hit home. I have worked at Azana on and off for 10 years. I have many friends that work there, have celebrated a lot of my life's major events with them, and have considered it a second home. We have been through marriages, births, divorces, sickness but up until yesterday never death. Although I have not worked in the salon for the last two years I still know almost everyone who works there. It is a close knit group of amazing women so when something like this happens there is not one person who remains unshaken. Everynight when I pray with Stella before bed I start by saying "Dear Jesus, thank you for this day.." Well last night I began the prayer with "Dear Jesus" but then could not get the rest of the words out. The three women who I knew personally's faces flashed before my eyes and I could not get the words "thank you for this day" out of my mouth because I thought, "how can I be thankful for this day?" But, in my pause Stella looked up at my face and said "thank you for this day...thank you that Ms. Lauren and mommy's friends are ok." And in that instance God spoke and reminded me that amongust the horror and tragedy that happened that He was there. That there were many miracles that happened yesterday. I was reminded that this was an evil act done by a man who was acting in a evil way. The emeny is out to steal our joy, he is out to make us bitter and angry. And, if we allow ourselves to be consumed by this anger, thi bitterness that he is winning, evil has won. The world lost 3 precious women yesterday, they were mothers and one even a grandmother, there is nothing that will ever take the pain of that loss away. We just need to trust that they are in a place now that is better than anything we've ever known on earth, they are in no pain, and there is only joy. I think it is so important to thank God for every single person who made it out yesterday, ever person who wasn't there that could have been. Often times when we experience such a tragedy it makes us realize how much we have to be thankful for. Please continue to be in prayer with me, for the victims family, mostly their sweet children, for the survivors who made it through a nightmare, and the rest of the azana girls who a suffering such a great great great loss.