I haven't wanted to post about anything related to the CT shooting/tragedy.  I have nothing eloquent to say in that regard.  Instead, I've cried a lot, and read other people's eloquent words about it.  I've even dreamed about the kids/families after reading some article last night that included cute photos of most of the victims.  Like so many others across our country, I've been gripped by this awful story and I've narcissistically thought about my own kids in relation to this tragedy.
I saw on facebook that one of my friends recently walked her preschooler thru the safety steps of how/when to dial 9-1-1 in an emergency.  I haven't even done that, and I for sure haven't exposed my kids to the sad things that happen to people as a result of other people's sins.  I'm not talking about telling my kids about this particular event in Connecticut, but more along the lines of telling them about how wars/famine/injustice/abandonment/violence/disease impacts children and adults throughout the world.  Instead, I paint the world in rainbows and lollipops, and tell them that monsters are pretend and that good guys always win.
But in the past few days I've been thinking about the how/why/when to help my kids learn that the world is broken.  Where does protecting their innocence become overprotecting and preventing them from growth in mercy and empathy?

I want my kids to have the faith they need to face life’s crises from a place of strength, a place of certainty that God is always good despite circumstances and He will never let go.  As Christians know that suffering is a part of living in a broken world, and we know that suffering can be a great reminder that we were created for more than all of this…eternity is written on our hearts.

 It is essential that we, as adults who believe in Jesus, equip our children with the faith they need to abound in God’s strength, and not the false hope of their own (fallible) strength.  Crisis always shakes things up, and rearranges life. With a Christ-centered perspective, getting things shaken up in our lives can lead to greater power rather than depleted strength. 

As painful as it is to see my kids exposed to the brokenness of the world, I gotta start seeing it as an opportunity to impart life-skills, faith-skills, to equip them to overcome crises when they hit. What better place for my kids to learn how to interpret tragedy than while they are still under my roof, and still under my/Dave’s coaching?
I'm trying to figure out how to help my kids see that we live in a wonderful world, and everything we see belongs to God, and comes from God, and God is good...and yet this world is broken, and we are all broken people who need Jesus to rescue us from our own sin and the sin that others splash on us...
Of course, I don't want my kids to learn about what happened to those kiddos and teachers in Connecticut last week.  (At least not for several years.)  But I do want to be more intentional to work into my everyday parenting some reality checks - that life can be hard, and God is always good.