As a parent, I am determined to show my children a faith that trusts God’s character when I cannot find an explanation because no one lived by faith in explanations in the Scriptures.
We must practice the ministry of presence, and we must do the work of grief.
Anyone who is grieving hates this terminology of “doing the work of grief,” but this is exactly what will begin the healing. We want to fix it when our children, family, and friends struggle with grief. This tragedy cannot be fixed. But we can be emotionally intelligent and spiritually discerning with those who are suffering in pain. This is no time for hot takes.
We should cry with those who cry, but let’s cry out to God. As we look for hope in the brokenness of Uvalde, may we do so vulnerably but not to the extent that dignity and God are factored out of the situation.
A prayer for Uvalde: Jesus, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Father, you know what it’s like to enter our grief. And I invite you right now to enter the grief of every parent and family in Uvalde and be present with them – perhaps in a deeper and more real way than they have yet experienced. Give them the assurance of your presence and that there is not a moment of this grief journey that you are not right there with them. Thank you for your love and your presence and your healing. And thank you that you have turned heaven and earth upside down to make things right assuring us that one day death will die, that this is temporary, and that you will make all things right, Amen.
