Even though I walk

The Lord has been reminding me of something very simple and very important lately.  After the Newtown shooting, like every parent in America I hugged my kids a little tighter on their first day back at school.  Like everyone else, I prayed a little prayer "God protect them.  Please keep this from OUR school."

On the day that the shooting happened, I was in our school to volunteer.  We were on level 2 lockdown.  It was a very tense and somber mood with the staff.  I talked with a teacher for a few minutes.  We talked about how the principal was going to sent a message to parents, letting them know that our school had a plan.  She looked at me and said, "Of course our school has a plan.  Colorado was the first state to start implementing "shooting plans" after Columbine."

Sad as it is that we need a plan for these horrible and evil events, it was comforting to hear that our school has a plan. Just a couple of days later I was flipping though my Bible.  I didn't have a destination in mind.  I wanted comfort from its pages but couldn't really focus on what I was reading much.  As I flipped through, my eye caught Psalm 23.  It is a passage that I have been able to say since I was 3 years old.  But until that morning, the words had never impressed me in this way. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil for you are with me.

Psalm 23:4

And there it was.  Even in the midst of death, even in the midst of evil, I won't fear the evil around me because God is with me.  Every time that lump starts in my throat, I remind myself that God is with me, that He is with my family, even when we walk through the valleys.  Even when we walk through death.  Even when there is evil around us.  He is still there.  Even if we ever have to live through (or Heaven forbid die through) a mass shooting in a place that should have been safe.  

As I said in my last post, I can't promise safety, but I can promise that God is with us.  I can't promise life won't throw us curve balls, but I can promise that there is no curve ball that will change the character of God.  I can't promise it won't be hard, but I can promise He will be with us during the pain.