Boston

I can’t stop thinking about The Boston Marathon.

When I first heard about the explosions, I didn’t really give it much thought. I just assumed it was some people playing around … maybe a few teenagers getting into trouble. But as I learn more, it’s weighing heavier and heavier on my heart.

Then last night I saw this picture on a friend’s Facebook page.

This is the Richard family. 8-year-old Martin Richard (right) was killed, 6-year-old Jane lost her leg and mom Denise is undergoing brain surgery.

And suddenly this tragedy took on a whole new meaning to me. That picture made it very personal. Because I keep putting my face and my kids faces in that picture.

Last October we went to DC to cheer on my husband in the Marine Corps Marathon. It’s a race with 30,000 runners. In our nation’s capitol. So you can imagine the crowds.

Here is Chris, right before the finish line. (He’s the runner farthest from the camera.)

If the bombing had happened at the finish line in DC instead of Boston, it could have been our family torn apart instead of the Richards family. My heart aches for them.

The more this type of thing happens (Columbine, 9/11, Sandy Hook), the more I realize how any control I think I have is just an illusion. Tomorrow is not guaranteed and I have to live every day with this perspective. As a mom, I cannot ensure the safety of my kids.

I don’t want to live in fear. I won’t let the possibility of dying stop me from living. But I also don’t want to live in ignorance. This world is not safe. Events like this remind me that there is a much bigger battle going on. These events aren’t just random acts of violence. They are a part of the ongoing struggle between good and evil. There is a war happening which we cannot see but which is very real and which Satan is doing his best to make us forget about. Because when we forget what is really happening – what is really being fought over – when we focus on the here and now, we lose hope.

Without the perspective of eternity, this world is just falling apart and there’s no hope.

Thankfully, we already know how it ends. We know who wins. And this gives me an immense amount of peace.