Loving the Little Children

I saw the horrible news headlines last night about the shootings in Connecticut, and could hardly comprehend what I was reading.  And then I also heard about the stabbings of children in China.  My heart and stomach have turned to lead, and I hardly slept last night, imagining the horror those children, the adults with them, and their parents faced.  How could this happen?  What is going on in our world?  It's frankly really hard to imagine that I have anything worthwhile to post about at this moment in time.  But I will just share something that has comforted me.

I have been thinking about all of the kindness we have seen as we have traveled.  So much love from strangers, and so much affection for my daughter.  I try to hold onto thoughts of these people, realizing that there are some extremely troubled individuals out there, who make a much larger impact in the headlines than those who steadily welcome children (and their parents) and simply love them without expecting anything in return.  I choose to see these people, rather than being afraid that most people I meet are violent lunatics.  My heart absolutely aches and grieves for all of those affected by this tragedy.  I can't help but think of the images seared into the minds of these children and the community around them.  And I also try to come back to people like this gentleman in Antalya, who welcomed my daughter to come sit by him and play some music.  This was the hallmark of our time in Turkey, in fact-- there was so much love there for my child, from total strangers.  They have given me comfort today.  I cannot tell them, but I want to honor them, and others who reach out in love to my child.

I will be hugging, kissing and holding Amelia extra today (and the next, and the next) and doing my best to love the strangers around me, especially the children.