I've been thinking a lot about a little girl who's Mia's age - only 23 months. Don't even know her name or her family but I heard their story via a friend. Blown away by the random act of violence that they endured and still healing from. Blown away that this random act could've been me with my family - had I been there at that place... at that time. Knowing that my family has been where this took place. Ate at that restaurant. Parked in their parking lot.Imagine... leaving a restaurant with your family
Imagine... holding your child, who's not quite 2 years old.
Imagine... a lady follows you to your car
Imagine... she starts stabbing your child with a knife.
Imagine... protecting your child while getting stabbed yourself!
Imagine... pinning down the lady until the police arrived.
Imagine... the randomness of that!
I wonder if I would've been calm enough to just pin that lady down without hurting her in return. I wonder what caused this woman to act this way?I pray in our van before I drive down the road. Short trips or long trips... it doesn't matter... It's just something that I've always done - even before I had a family... even before I had a husband! I pray with my kids. I pray for safety - not just for my vehicle... but for those vehicles around me.
I think I need to add a new prayer since living on Guam... "Lord, please help me not to speed... help me to just slow down!" The highest speed limit that I"ve seen here is 45mph. Yes, 45 mph!
On Sunday I got pulled over by the police. Immediately when I saw his lights in my rear-view mirror I wanted to slam on my breaks - but that would've been way too obvious. So instead, I pulled over, turned off my engine and got my ID's ready. Here's our conversation:
"Hello Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over?"
* i feel so old when I'm called a Ma'am *
"I hope it's to welcome me to your beautiful island" (pause)
** with a smile on my face **
"Or maybe it's because I was speeding" (sigh*)
Did you know it was only 25 mph after the Governors Complex... just down the hill from Nimitz? I so didn't know! Ooooppssss! I was probably maxxed out to my crawlin' 45mph speed!
Luckily Mr. Police man practiced his random act of kindness and let me go with only a warning, and with a smile on his face he did WELCOME me to the ISLAND!! I was lucky because I probably deserved a ticket. He was very very nice!
I'm definitely more aware of my surroundings! Even on this beautiful island that we live on - there's good people and there's bad. We'll find that everywhere we go! People that want to do harm... sometimes with their words and actions... and then there are those who are wanting only the best for you and the community by reminding us of our actions... trying to keep us all safe so we can all live in harmony!
Love, kindness, respect, self-confidence, compassion for others, sharing... are just a few things that are caught by kids. It's hard to teach those things... so it's up to us to be examples for our kids and show them. This is how they'll learn.Sadly, that woman who was caught in her Random Act of Violence probably never experienced those things... she'll be in my prayers tonight!
I woke up this morning to my sweet little Ryan saying, "I folded the clothes mommy" - the pile I left on the couch last night was put in sections... a pile for the boys, the girls & mommy & daddy. They weren't perfectly folded... but the attempt was there - and I LOVE THAT!
