Praying for the Victims of the Colorado Shootings

Tragedies like the shootings in Arvada and Colorado Springs, CO ... are unexplainable.

And yet my husband and I had to sit down and talk with our almost 7-year-old daughter about what happened yesterday. New Life Church, the site of one of the shootings, is all of 8 minutes from our home. Some of our friends attend New Life. We knew that Christa would hear about the shooting in school on Monday, possibly from another first-grader--and we preferred that she hear about it from us.

But, how do you talk to a 7-year-old about a man walking into a church and shooting people as they are leaving a morning service? It's difficult being a parent when life doesn't make sense.

I confess, I let Rob do most of the talking. He seems be better at keeping things brief. And then, we wrapped our arms around our daughter and held one another. She wanted lots of hugs for the rest of the day. And I was okay with that.

My two oldest daughters spent the day with a friend whose brother was at New Life when the shooting occured. He's fine, thank God.

I've spent the day listening to the news--and there's precious little of it. I'm trying to pray. I'm crying. And I called my family on the east coast to let them know we were safe.

I don't understand it. I most certainly am not the only person who does not understand what happened. I thank God for the courageous security guard at New Life who protected so many other lives yesterday--but I am sorry she had to take a life to do so.

I pray that God comforts all the victims and their families and friends.