The Week that Was

On Saturday, we competed in a race in Kansas (half marathon for me, full marathon for The Boy) that was close enough to allow my family to come and cheer for us...a first.

God is good. My family high-fived us, cheered and shared several meals together.

On Sunday, we woke up super early, feeling refreshed, and made the nearly eight-hour trek back to Texas in record time without traffic delays or fatigue.

God is good. We had a great night's sleep before returning to work the next day.

On Monday, we digitally watched the Boston Marathon and, like the rest of the US, went from feelings of elation to horror with the afternoon bombings.

But God is still good. People reacted with compassion and courage - focused on helping the hurting.

On Tuesday, a woman confessed to her involvement (and implicated her husband) in the assassinations of two members of the district attorney's office in one of our metro area suburbs. The murders had terrorized the community for months.

God is good. Evil can not hide.

On Wednesday, a fertilizer plant in another one of our metro area suburbs exploded, killing 14 (the count as of now) and leveling homes and schools that surrounded the plant.

But God is still good. Donations and offers to help have overwhelmed West, Texas - they've officially said they want prayers now more than anything else.

On Thursday, our metro area learned that a local high school student had been arrested for terrorizing his school for nearly a year, leaving threats and bullets at random times. The city had been on edge, wondering if another mass shooting was in the future for the school.

God is good. Evil can not hide.

On Friday, the city of Boston - and the rest of the country, in many ways - was held captive during a massive manhunt for the marathon bombing suspects. The day ended with one suspect dead, the other captured.

God is good. Evil can not hide.

That's not to mention all of the other things that happened - a suspect arrested for sending ricin-filled letters to politicians, the deaths of notable individuals (George Beverly Shea and Pat Summerall), a SWAT-standoff with a murderer in our metro area, massive storms that caused havoc of various sorts (snowfall, flooding, tornados) in various areas of the country - it goes on and on.

If I was a journalist, this would have been a dream week to be on the job. But I'm not a journalist - though I am, by profession, a story teller of sorts.

And the story I want to focus on is that God is still sovereign, even when life doesn't make sense. God is sovereign in moments of joy and in times of chaos, when evil comes to light and when hope is hard to find.