It’s been exactly 1 week now.
Since the news came. The horrific news. That has shaken a community. Left so many grieving. One week ago today, as we were waking up, making breakfast, getting kids off to school, normalcy in this quiet neighborhood – forever changed.
A dear family of 4 – all brutally murdered in their home. Tragedy. We are still at a loss for words to describe all that our minds try to process. We’ve soaked in this awful truth that it really can happen anywhere, these things that we hear about in “other” places, but never here, or to those we know. Precious mom, and dad, both from China, along with their 2 young boys who went to school and played with our kids, were active in swim team and Cub scouts, who loved to ride bikes, run, laugh, just like any other little boy – now – all gone.
The sad details were initially slow to come out, which opened the door for speculations to swirl. Unfortunately, even now, a week later, police still have no leads, no motive. Thankfully this crime is reaching international attention and we hope that someone, somewhere, knows something.
Every morning since then, I’ve awakened while it is still dark, thoughts pressing, spirit burdened, grieving for these who lost their lives, only blocks away from where we live and breathe. Still unable to wrap my mind around how it happened, and why. This quiet, family neighborhood that we all call home, now completely set on edge, shaken, rattled, changed.
Yellow police tape surrounding a beautifully warm, and inviting home, minivan still in the driveway, reflections of the fact that an entire family lived there – it just doesn’t all fit together. Yellow police tape doesn’t belong here.
Patrol cars everywhere. Media and news trucks lining the street. Cars passing by to take quick looks at the house where the unthinkable happened.
It reminds us of this.
Evil visited here. While we slept. While we lived. While we were unaware. It heartlessly took 4 innocent lives. And left fear and grief beyond comprehension lingering behind. It can run, and try to hide – but God will chase and follow. He is close, always there. I believe it, beyond a doubt. God knows the “who,” He knows the senseless “why,” and He will hold this one accountable. Evil will not win. We can rest in the fact that God is at work, sometimes visibly, often behind the scenes, but always working as we pray and press into Him, asking Him for justice – for peace.
Here is truth.
“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light.” Luke 8:17
We await. We pray. Time will tell. Light will come.
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