Newtown-Broken Hearts

I couldn’t bring myself to write yesterday. I try to post every week day but my heart was so heavy for the families of those who lost loved ones in Newtown.

For once I was truly “wordless.”

I don’t have any idea how to stop senseless tragedies. All I know is that now when I look at my Christmas tree with presents beneath it, I am thinking about families who have gifts under theirs for people they are burying this week.  When I watch Christmas movies while holding my granddaughter in my arms, I’m thinking about grandparents and parents whose arms are empty. When I drive past the school where I once taught, I’m thinking about the principal and teachers who gave their lives trying to save the lives of the children entrusted to them.

There is so much sadness and heartache in Newtown that it fills the air like a cold, thick, wet fog and chills the whole world. Even writing about what happened  now I feel guilty because it sounds like I am focusing on how it effects me. This is not about me. What I feel is NOTHING compared to their pain and loss.

All I know to do is pray for them. I hope that just as I can feel the cold, wet, fog of their sadness, that they can feel  the love and warmth of those of us who are praying for their broken hearts.



39 Comments

  1. December 20, 2012 / 6:39 pm

    It is so sad. I can’t imagine what those families are going through. I feel so guilty sitting here enjoying my family when there’s is broken because of such a senseless crime.

  2. December 20, 2012 / 10:23 am

    My heart still aches. I wish the media would just stop and let everyone grieve.

  3. December 19, 2012 / 9:01 pm

    What those bereaved parents & loved ones are suffering right now is impossible to imagine. But the evil & horror of what happened at Newtown has also left the rest of us reeling. We’re all grieving & feeling helpless. In time, we’ll pull together & find a way to prevent this from happening. But for now, we can only send prayers & other help to those who have lost so many cherished hearts.

  4. December 19, 2012 / 5:37 pm

    So hard to digest, almost impossible. There really aren’t even words. 🙁

  5. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 12:38 pm

    Good idea, Christine!

  6. December 19, 2012 / 9:16 am

    This is so well put… the only thing that can be said to these people is that time heals all wounds… but I don’t really think these wounds are ever really going to heal…those who are left behind just learn to survive.

  7. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:55 am

    Awww, thank you Meryl and I wish you the same! Thanks so much for taking time to comment!

  8. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:54 am

    Hi Laurie…thanks for coming by and for commenting. I really appreciate it and hope you will come back often!

  9. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:54 am

    I agree Paula! Thanks for visiting!

  10. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:53 am

    And to you! Hugs!

  11. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:53 am

    Hi Bree, thanks so much for stopping by NanaHood….I suspect there will be many awful holidays for them. Pray for them!

  12. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:52 am

    Tears here too. Thanks for stopping by Kristi!

  13. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:52 am

    Thanks for coming over Judy! Blessings to you!

  14. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:51 am

    A agree Joyce! Thanks for stopping by.

  15. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:51 am

    Amen, me too!

  16. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:51 am

    I have never had such a long, thoughtful, well written comment. Thank you for sharing!

  17. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:49 am

    I agree. Thanks for visiting NanaHood!

  18. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:49 am

    I can’t imagine how sad they are….Thanks for stopping by!

  19. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:48 am

    Loved your post! Thanks for stopping by NanaHood!

  20. teresak
    Author
    December 19, 2012 / 8:48 am

    I agree! Thanks for stopping by!

  21. December 19, 2012 / 8:19 am

    At times like these, I think prayer is not just the only thing we can offer those who are grieving, but the best thing.

  22. December 19, 2012 / 5:50 am

    I couldn’t write Monday and I expressed my feelings yesterday. My WW is a tribute as well.

  23. December 18, 2012 / 9:57 pm

    It is, indeed, a sad tragedy. I broke down and cried yesterday morning, thinking about the same things you wrote about. My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the CT massacre.

  24. December 18, 2012 / 9:19 pm

    Thank you for stopping by! 🙂

    It was such a horrible thing to have happened.

  25. December 18, 2012 / 8:04 pm

    I have no words too. My heart bleeds for all those innocent kids.

  26. Dewey Williams
    December 18, 2012 / 7:50 pm

    Some have asked, where is God? The theodicy question shows it omnipresence in times of deep pain and horrible outcomes. Where was God? has been asked this past week as our nation struggles following the unthinkable massacre of first graders and school staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. This is a legitimate question that deserves to be heard, pondered, and responded to by those of us who say we know a loving God.

    In the biblical account of Jesus calming the storm on the sea, in Mark 4, the disciples awaken Jesus and ask him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” In essence they were questioning the Lord presence and action in their time of despair. Jesus rebuffed the waves and wind and brought peace in the middle of their fears and torments. Then Jesus turned the question around and pressed the disciples to be more courageous and consistent with their faith walk. Jesus said, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus called for them with their faith to be present during the tough times they were facing. Jesus expects people of faith to be present during the tough times we face now.

    Where is God? I always respond to that question with responding questions. Where was I? Where were you? Where were we? The question, where is God? following a horrendous event assumes the preposition that God acts independently with the sole purpose of keeping us out of bad circumstances. I believe that the divine God has given us a role and responsibility in how we interact with one another and has entrusted us to do good or evil with one another. We are concurrently responsible for one another with God.

    Evil raised it ugly head in Newtown last week and killed twenty innocent babies and six adults before turning a gun on himself and taking his own life. While we can ask, where was God? we need to ask where were we? We have allowed weapons of mass destruction (assault weapons) readily available to the general population and we have made the ammunition for these devices to be as easily purchased as fishing equipment in a sporting goods store. We have allowed loopholes in legislation to permit people to purchase such equipment with no background checks.

    We have made the right to own and shoot guns more significant than the safety of the general population. We love our guns, while we say we hate gun violence. We love to defend ourselves while we say we hate gun violence. We say we love the second amendment while we say we hate gun violence. We have failed to see that guns and gun violence are conjoined. We have not been there to voice that the evil that can come from a person that hold a gun is a greater risk than the evil that comes from a person who does not hold a gun. Were are we? is the question to ask now.

    We have made mental health treatment one of the most burdensome processes for individuals and families to navigate. We have made it easier to get thirty clips for an assault weapon than to get thirty sessions with a therapist. We have ignored families struggling with mentally ill children and have dismissed them as isolated, and problemed families who will see their problems resolved by their own financial wherewithal and with their own micro outcomes.

    I must admit that I have seen God since Friday. In every tear that has been shed and in every cry that has been sighed I have seen God tugging at our hearts. In every hug that has been extended and in every flower that has been place at a memorial I see God saying I care. In every responder that descended on the scene to keep other safe has shown me God at work one person toward another. In every act of kindness by every person in the world that has responded to the single act of unkindness by one sick individual shows me God is here now.

    God is in us. We have to show up and show what good God wants us to reveal. God’s voice and hands will show up when God’s people show up and say, we love; we care; we repent for our lack of action in the past; we vow to make this a world where what happened at Sandy Hook a world where this will not happen again.

  27. December 18, 2012 / 6:34 pm

    It’s just so, so sad. My heart breaks for those families.

  28. December 18, 2012 / 2:45 pm

    You have expressed yourself so well about this situation! Really very sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have lost loved ones. Thanks for hosting and take care.

  29. December 18, 2012 / 2:17 pm

    You speak for me and for so many with what you’ve said so eloquently here today. I wrote an extremely short post in memory of those that lost their lives that day. It’s all I could do. I had no words, only tears.

  30. December 18, 2012 / 12:30 pm

    There really are no words to describe that horror and the sheer waste of potential in the lives of those children and their teachers. Those families are forever scarred and forever changed. This Christmas will be awful for them.

  31. December 18, 2012 / 12:22 pm

    There are no words…

    Merry Christmas to you, dear friend.

  32. December 18, 2012 / 12:11 pm

    I’m sure there are no words to describe the pain the families are feeling … hurts just hearing about it 🙁

    Paula
    lifeasweknowitbypaula.blogspot.com

  33. December 18, 2012 / 12:09 pm

    I am so glad you stopped by my blog. I tried to visit earlier this morning and this party wasn’t up, so I thought you weren’t going to have it today. You are right…there isn’t much we can do but pray for them. It is so sad…I just can’t imagine what they are going through. I pray the Lord will bless this community abundantly with his spirit.
    Laurie

  34. December 18, 2012 / 11:59 am

    Thanks for the touching post. I agree, my heart is so very heavy… wishing you and your family a joyous, meaningful holiday and may it usher a new year of peace, good health, happiness and success.

  35. December 18, 2012 / 11:19 am

    There are no words. The sadness I feel is overwhelming at times.

  36. December 18, 2012 / 10:54 am

    Hello and thanks for the nice comment by me.

    I wish you and yours a lovely Christmas.
    Hugs Marit.

  37. December 18, 2012 / 10:35 am

    Awful news that’s all i can say 🙁

Subscribe to NanaHood

* indicates required