Be Thankful

The past few days have been hard on my mind and heart. When I got off work Tuesday, I heard about the Uvalde shooting. My heart sank to my stomach as parent. I have a 4th grader who is so ready to go to the 5th grade. I can't imagine her having life stolen like that from her in such a violent way. My heart aches for those parents of those children and for the teachers who tried to protect them. I thought about how my daughter did not want to go to school the last two days because she had her award ceremony the week prior. I then read about how a couple came to their child's ceremony the same day and left their child at school for the rest of the day. Imagine the relief if they would have taken the child home after the ceremony, but instead their child was murdered because they stayed at school. I thought about how my daughter asked to leave early each year before Covid after ceremonies and being the mom that says, "No you're staying because school isn't over yet". Now I feel that whenever my daughter may ask to go home early, I will want to run to get her and take her home every time.

I try not to question God, but I wonder why this had to happen to these innocent people and so quickly after the Buffalo shooting. I can't live in fear, but why should we worry if our life may end at a grocery store, or our child's life ends at school. All I can do is pray for the world to do what is right. I have to pray that we move towards actions that protect the innocent.

I watched my daughter sleep last night and am so thankful to have her. While I joke with her about plucking my nerves, I tell her every day how loved she is. I never want her to question that. God forbid she be in a panic away from me, I hope that love gives her peace and the ability to push through those feelings of fear. I have not yet figured out how to have this conversation with her about the shooting, but I know it is coming. Her school has drills, but this is real life. Can a drill really prepare you for that type of situation? Why do we even have to have drills like this? Why is this the world we live in?

I asked myself how can I Be Positive in a time like this. I don't know the answer.

What I do know is that I can be thankful that I still have my daughter. I can be proactive as a parent to advocate for children to never leave the world in this manner. I can continue to pray for those who will never be the same after this tragedy.

I challenge you to be thankful, to fight for what is right for our children, and to pray for those who may not be able to pray for themselves at this time.

If you have any ideas or would like to just talk about ways to be proactive in protecting our children and ourselves against this type of violence, please email me admin@postivebe.org

Until next time, I ask that you Be Thankful.