When I was five years old, I was in Mrs.Bark's kindergarten class at Dixon Elementary. I had a cute "boyfriend" named Ryan, and a small group of friends that I sat with at lunch every day. I loved playing "be" with my sister Hannah, cutting the grass with my Daddy, and riding in my barbie jeep pretending to be the mail lady. I had blonde hair down to my waist, and big, bright blue eyes that saw no wrong in my world. I believed in Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and I believed that the tooth fairy was the one responsible for my excitement when I woke up to a five dollar bill under my pillow instead of my tiny baby tooth. My five year old eyes never saw violence. I had never been opened up to the evil world of murderers, thieves, rapists, and all that goes with it. I believed everyone was good at heart, and I never expected that to change.
On Friday, December 14, hundreds of children were stripped of that innocence. I am not referring to the children whose lives were taken. Matthew 19:14 says “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." My heart aches for the parents of these children, but I am comforted when I know that they're now in the arms of Jesus. Sandy Hook Elementary School is a second home to more than 600 students. These 600+ students have now had their eyes opened to the evilness of our world. They have seen and heard a 20 year old boy come into their school, and take the lives of their friends, their teachers, their principal, and some brothers and sisters. It's one thing to expose people my age to this type of violence, but 5 and 6 year olds? Kindergarten to fourth graders? It's horrific. They've lost the view of the world that all young children are supposed to keep for much, much longer.
I often think about the 6 long semesters I have left until my college graduation. I think about how long it's going to take and how much work I have to do from now until then. However, when I think about how many milestones these 20 children will never get to cross.. I feel different. These children will never get to tell their mom about their first crush. They will never feel the nervousness of trying to pass their drivers test. They will never be able to look out into the crowd and feel accomplished as they walk across the stage with their high school diploma. They will never get married or have children of their own. 20 children. 20 lives. 20 futures. And one man, one BOY, only 20 years old.. one year younger than me, is responsible. I honestly hope that God has more mercy on his evil minded, mentally sick self than I would.
The arguments have been going on for days. Gun control, no gun control, metal detectors at entrances of schools, armed and trained teachers.. I could go on for days. These are not solutions. You can ban guns, knives, box cutters, sticks, and stones. You can put metal detectors in schools. You can train teachers to blow the brains out of any criminal who walks into that school. You can even put a SWAT team outside of every school. But no matter what you do, you still can't disarm evil. All you can do is pray. Pray for the families who have had their sweet innocent children taken from them. Pray for the children who now don't have their brother or sister to wake them up on Christmas morning, excited to see what Santa Claus has left them both. Pray for the children who have had their eyes opened to the cruelness of this world far too soon. Pray for Sandy Hook. Pray for Newtown. Pray for Connecticut. And most of all, Pray for our country.
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