Whenever I checked my Facebook on Friday, it seemed that bad news filled my feed. Earthquakes in Mexico and Japan, bombings in Baghdad and Beirut, and finally the terrorist attacks in Paris. In the span of 24 hours, nearly 120,000 lives were lost. 120,000 people who were sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, and friends. 120, 000 people who possibly had plans for their lives...suddenly gone. Needless to say, I held my daughter a bit closer and a bit longer that night.
Late on that night as I was scrolling through my friendʻs status updates, a comment someone made caught my eye. I canʻt remember what it said exactly but it was somewhere along the lines of: "Even if I wanted kids, I wouldnʻt want to bring them into a world like this."
That made me stop and think.
I thought about my daughter and about this timeframe in which she was born. I worried that things like this--bombings, natural disasters, wars, and rumors of wars--would be the norm of her childhood. I wondered if I was wrong to bring her into the world at a time like this when it seems that unrest and fear is prevalent throughout the world. I worried that there was nothing that I could do to protect her from all the things that were wrong with the world.
Then I stopped to pray. I prayed for those throughout the world who were hurting that night--who would be hurting for days, months, years even, on end. I prayed for the lives that were lost and I prayed for those who lost friends and family members in the horrific events that occurred. I prayed that their hearts and minds would be comforted and that, in their time of need, they would see the good in the world...that they would be healed with time and love. I prayed for the first-responders and all the emergency personnel who would be on the scene to help those who were affected by the events.
And I prayed for myself. I prayed for the comfort to know that my daughter was born at this time for a reason. I prayed for the strength and the faith to raise my daughter to be a good, kind person. I prayed that I would be able to see the good in the world and that I would be able to teach her that there is good out there. I prayed for my sweet little girl. I prayed that, though she may see injustice and fear and unrest and hatred, that she would know who to look to for love, kindness, peace, and justice.
Being a mom is so, so scary without having to worry about all the horrible things going on in the world today. Trust me, I worry nearly every single moment of every single day about my kid. But through my prayer, I found comfort.
Even though there isnʻt much I can do regarding natural disasters or terror attacks, there are things that I can do for my daughter...to help her stand strong and faithful in the face of these kinds of things. I can teach her to pray and to rely on her Heavenly Father. I can teach her to be compassionate and service minded. I can instill in her a love to serve others in her every day life so that when things like this happens, she will have the desire to serve them. I can teach her to seek comfort from her Heavenly Father or from those around her when things that scare her happens. I can be there for her to explain to her that these things do happen, but that it should not affect her view of the world. I can show her that goodness does exist in the world. I can be her example of good.
Iʻm sure that, at some point, every parent has wanted to lock their kid in a room where they canʻt get hurt and nothing bad can ever happen to them. Unfortunately, we canʻt do that...we can only hope to teach and show our kids the best things about the world that we live in.
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