"The death of one child brings the end to a universe of possibilities." Unknown

I heard this quote the other day. Actually, it was the other night, three o'clock in the morning. I couldn't sleep so I flipped on the TV and began to watch the coverage of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. As they wrapped up another half hour of interviews, the anchor segued into the commercial with this quote. And it caused me to think. First of all, I thought about my son. How true this statement is. Will I ever know what "universe of possibilities" could have been attained if Josh had lived? How would his life changed others, blessed others, or made other lives different? Would he have cured some disease, taught some world leader or fathered one of our future presidents?

Then my mind flashed back to the 32 lives that were ended (33 counting the gun man). How would our lives been different if just one of them had lived to fulfill their purpose or to realize God's promise for their life? Greater still, how has our culture been touched by the deaths of over 4,000 babies a day due to abortion in our country since the Roe v. Wade decision? What price do we pay for the "luxury" of terminating unwanted lives? What larger price will we pay for a mad man's decisions this past week in Virginia?

As those thoughts rumbled around in my sleepy head, one huge thought came to the forefront. My mind was drawn to the two children upstairs, the blessing and responsibility I have been given in training and loving these children. I have prayed for years now that those two kids would grow up to change the world. It's still my prayer. More than I ever I want to love them so that there are never any doubts about that. I want to assure them that no mistake or failure would ever change that. I want them to know that God loves them. That he is crazy about both of them and desires the very best for them. I want them to comprehend His plan and to know that He has a purpose for their existence. More than anything, I don't want them to get to the end of their lives and feel like they have missed one thing that God had for them to do. Maybe, just maybe, if someone had prayed those same prayers for Cho Heung-Sui, there would have been some different headlines this week. And we would have been different people as a result of all those "universes" opening to their possibilities.