Thursday, April 10, 2014

A day that forever changed my life: A week later

Our hearts are heavy for the fallen soldiers and their families after the tragedy so close to home last week. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families of the fallen, the wounded soldiers and their families, and all those effected by this event. I pray they all are getting all the support they need to heal from their physical and emotional wounds that I am sure are so much deeper than their surfaces are showing.

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers for our family during and after.

I can't believe a whole week has gone by since that terrifying afternoon that changed my life forever! This week has been scary, sad, meaningful, hectic, memorable, crazy, long and at the same time short, and more and more emotions that I can't put into words at the moment.

Probably most of you don't know about things that happened in our community in the days after the Fort Hood shooting.

On Thursday, April 3, the day following the shooting, there was a bomb scare downtown. Several city blocks were evacuated and of course fear filled the town. Bomb squads, SWAT teams, and police spent hours keeping the community safe and working disarm what appeared to be a pipe bomb. Of course people were glued to their computers and televisions to see what terrible event was unfolding that day. Obviously people were connecting it to what had happened at Fort Hood only 18 hours prior. After about four hours, they finally announced that it was a fake. I don't know what kind of sick person makes fake bombs and plants them in plain sight (it was on the hood of a car; a neighbor called it in) the day after such a horrible event and fear cripples a community, but I guess they got what they wanted.

Ok that was just a fake, you can breathe again! Friday, April 4, my kids were crazy; not listening to anything I said, unpacking boxes, throwing fits left and right. I had planned on running errands that morning but decided against it with my bad mood babies. While eating lunch, I heard a couple sirens go off. I knew they were close to the house but after they died down, I didn't think much of it. Got the kids down for their naps and finally got to sit down to eat my own lunch (around 2:00). All of the sudden I heard a TON of sirens; they seemed louder and closer than the ones earlier. I look out my windows and see a police car blocking off a nearby street, their sirens off but lights going. The sirens are still going but I can't see anything else. I check the local news station and they aren't saying anything about it. I run to my computer thinking, ok WHAT is going on? Are we safe? Do I need to go get my babies upstairs? What could it be now? And then praying...Lord I don't know what is happening but I just pray that you watch over us and keep us safe. Be with all who are involved in whatever is happening and help keep them safe as well. Please don't let this be another tragedy.

I finally find out that a man called the police (the first sirens I heard) saying he wanted to take his own life. There wasn't a lot of details about this story. I think with everything going on at Ft. Hood, everyone was trying to limit media sharing and oversharing. I still don't know about the timeline of the afternoon, but apparently the police talked with him for a long time. Eventually the man charged at a police officer with some knives, causing the police to take him down by force (with their guns). The man was expected to survive, he was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.

Our neighborhood, actually only a couple of houses down from our new house, was covered in yellow crime scene tape and littered with ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars. Oh my goodness...this week!!! That's a lot for me to take in!!!

I had the privilege of attending a Flag Walk in honor of our fallen soldiers with a friend and our kids later that night. It was so sweet to see all these families from our community come together for this, an event that wasn't really largely advertised except for on Facebook, but had a great turnout. It was really meaningful to see the support for the families of the wounded and fallen from our great community!

(Sorry for this not so great photo...we were mid-stride and I was pushing a stroller and corralling my 3YO).

I got to end this week spending a whole day with my wonderful little family of four and begin this next week with a wonderful time of worship with my church family. Oh God gives me peace!

I've learned several things from the events that unfolded late last week:

You truly never know what day will be your last or your loved ones' last. Cherish the time you have with your loved ones. Love them, make sure they know you love them, show them you love them, hug and kiss them!

I know my husband is where he should be, doing what he's meant to do! I never, EVER, imagined I would be an Army wife and raise a family in the midst of PCS(es), possible deployments, living on or near posts, etc. But I'm so glad C is the soldier and doctor that he is and that he can use his gifts to serve and care for the men and women serving our country.

There is A LOT of hurt in this world! There is A LOT of fear in this world! Hurt and fear that can only be cured by the love and peace that only God  can give! The world needs Him! I hope I can be a part of sharing that!

I run to Him! I ran to Him this week! I clung to Him this week! I know I wouldn't have gotten through this week without Him. I wouldn't be in the place I am now without Him!

I was able to watch a bit of the memorial service for the three fallen soldiers yesterday. It was very touching and I pray that the families of those soldiers were able to celebrate their service, heroism, and their lives along with grieving their loss. I hope they are beginning to heal and find peace.

To quote as best as I can remember Chief of Staff of the Army, General Odierno, "The strength of our nation is our Army. The strength of our Army is our soldiers. The strength of our soldiers is our families".

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