Pray for these families.

In 2001, my sister, my daughters and I went on a 15 day camping trip through out New England. Toward the end of our trip we stayed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We found the Amish there to be gentle spoken, and very kind toward a van load of lost, road weary women trying to buy eggs for their breakfast. There is a sense of peacefulness and order that permeates their farms, picturesque with their petunia edged gardens and bucolic surroundings. We drove by a one room school house, with it's teeter totter on the play ground and commented on how idyllic it looked. At Bird in the Hand farmer's market, the youngest children played at their mother's feet or were held in her arms while she waited on customers. The young boys and girls helped restock the pies, cakes, or other homemade items for sale. They captured my heart, those little girls in their aprons and little boys with their straw hats. When I heard the news about the shooting in Lancaster yesterday, it almost brought me to my knees. I can't stop crying when I think of it. Every school shooting is a heartbreaking, horrible tragedy, but the truth is, sadly, we have come to expect the news of them, and to expect copycat events to follow any major school shooting. This week has been rife with them. Somehow, I had hoped there was a place that was safe, a place where this couldn't happen. I am so sorry I was wrong.