I WAS ANGRY that this happened again. I was hurting for Apalachee, and for students and school [employees] around our county. I was heartbroken as stories from people in my church close to this tragedy began to come in. I was rattled and processing. I still am.

I was in middle school when Columbine happened. It changed the way I looked at school forever. Then on Wednesday [Sept. 4] my youngest, at 3 years old, experienced her first lockdown. I am thankful to our preschool and church staff for keeping our preschoolers safe, but life shouldn’t be this way. This is the 416th school shooting in our country since Columbine. When will things change?

I thought of Jesus, weeping at the death of his friend Lazarus. I thought of Jesus telling his disciples to love their enemies, to pray for them, even those who hurt them, even the political leaders who beheaded his cousin and would soon put him on a cross. I thought of Jesus’ command to love God with all our hearts and love others as ourselves. I thought of the book of James and the exhortation to be doers of the word and not just hearers of the word. How well do I, do we, follow what God says: to love others, to help others, to reach out?

It turns out this 14-year-old kid [with the gun] lived about a mile or so from my church. I don’t have faith that laws or politicians will change things. I have faith in God and believe [God calls] us to do more, to not pass the buck, saying “someone should do something.” Each of us is that someone. We can make a difference in our communities, neighborhood, or just on our street. We have a lot of hurting people and hurting families. Our school counselors, teachers, and community counselors can’t do it all. They are overwhelmed and stretched thin. They need us. Our kids need us.