Can The Bullets Stop?

Gun shots. Screams. Horror. Pain. Broken hearts. Heroes.

I've had a few days to take it all in. Of course I could never imagine kissing my child goodbye, dropping them off at school only for them to be gunned down and killed. As a parent, I know one main responsibility I feel to physically protect my children. How could you cope? How could you move? How could you breath? I ache for these families, and I pray the peace of God that transcends all understanding will be given to them, and that from this tragedy God will be glorified.

Meanwhile, society is stuck on three questions. How? Why? And, How can it be prevented from happening again? Everyone seems to have the answers. ABC news took two hot seconds before saying the infamous words "Gun Control".
More gun legislation.
Better mental health screening.
Metal detectors and armed cops at the doors of every school.
Let the teachers themselves be armed.
So many thoughts and suggestions get thrown out, and we as believes let and even engage ourselves in these conversations. I think we do this because we want it to be true. We want to believe that WE can fix this "problem". We want to believe one law can be passed and we will never have to witness this again. Oh how I myself wish that were true. (On the flip side, I do firmly believe giving up our civil liberties to the government will be far more dangerous to our children then the amount of guns on the streets. Taking away guns is only a hop, skip,and jump away from taking away our right to gather and worship.)The fact is hurt and anguish have been around as long as man, and with it comes a deep deep need to know the Savior. Why are we so afraid to offer this savior to a hurting world? Why am I so afraid?

In a society where violence and anger are everywhere, our government is bending over backwards to take morality out. This is not a gun issue, or video game issue, or school safety issue, this is a HEART issue. Yes, there are some things that we can and should do to practically help, but these are not a fix. It's like the "Chicago Band-aid". We lived in the city of Chicago for six years. One of the plagues of the city were giant pot holes that popped up every year. It seemed overnight one could quadruple in size. There were so many, the city couldn't fix them all fast enough. If a pot-hole got so big it could cause damage to cars, the city would bring a huge piece of steel and place it over the hole until it could be properly repaired. It was just a band-aid covering a problem not fixing it. All the laws that could be passed are just band-aids covering a huge gaping hole. This hole exists in the hearts of people. It's time to take a stand. It's time to get the cement truck and fill in the holes with a permanent solution. (Little break down in illustration because the pot-holes come back every year, but work with me.)

This battle will most likely not be won on the front lines in Washington (though we should still keep fighting.) But, I can win this battle in my home. You can win this battle in your home. I can choose to teach my children to love other people fiercely with the love of Jesus while still standing for what they believe in. I can teach them that while prayer may not be aloud in schools that doesn't mean they can't pray, and while the ten commandments are not where to be found that doesn't mean we don't follow them. I can teach my children that being tolerant is not always the answer. As my husband said last night: "Being tolerant of everything, means your convicted about nothing." How do I teach? I teach by example. They need to see this in me before they ever will adopt it as their own.

No, one law wont fix anything, but if I can mold these three little hearts in front of me, that's a start. Change starts with ME. Change starts with YOU. How about we start right now?