How Do We Help Kids Feel Safe Again?

Just a couple weeks ago a friend mentioned how sad it is that her five year old son has code red drills at school. They practice hiding and staying quiet “in case a bad stranger comes,” he told her. Now our hearts grieve with the families in Newtown.

This is the world we live in, a place where even kids die in violent, horrible ways. And yet our Testimony says, “Our world belongs to God!” What does that mean? How do we reconcile this present darkness with the coming of the Kingdom? How do we comfort kids and parents who feel the pain of others and fear the worst for themselves? 

I don’t have answers this week, just questions. What passages are you leaning on? What words and prayers are you sharing with others? What conversations are you having with kids?

We long for that day

when our bodies are raised,

the Lord wipes away our tears,

and we dwell forever in the presence of God.

We will take our place in the new creation,

where there will be no more death

or mourning or crying or pain,

and the Lord will be our light.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

-Our World Belongs to God: A Contemporary Testimony, paragraph 56