Columbine

Hello everybody. I hope all of you are having a great Monday. Just think, this is the last week of school before winter break for some of you guys! Isn't that an awesome thought? Well, I hope you are all well and fully charged up for the week. Here is a devotion from Dare2share.org to help. It is about the Columbine shootings that took place in 1999, but don't worry, it isn't very graphic. Hope you find courage through this message.

Five years ago today, my life was absolutely turned upside down. Life as I knew it would never be the same again...

On the morning of April 20, 1999 I had not a care in the world. In fact, I was excited about life, and the bright future ahead of me. I was a junior at Columbine High School, with plans and dreams beyond the imagination. I was just sixteen years old, my life was only beginning. I had my driver's license and I could go anywhere or do anything I wanted to do. On that particular morning as I headed off to school, the biggest concern on my mind was passing my physics test later that afternoon.

11:10 am would find me spending my lunch hour with two of my close friends in the school library in preparation for the test.

11:15 am a teacher came running through the doors screaming, "THERE'S GUYS WITH GUNS AND BOMBS IN THE SCHOOL!" My friends and I were confused, surely not here, not at Columbine High School. We lived in a nice area, where nothing bad ever happened, so we found it hard to believe the warnings. We honestly thought it was a joke and we ignored the teacher's plea to get under our tables. After the teacher entered, one of my classmates ran through the doors stumbling to the ground. All color was gone from his face, and he lifted his hand that had been clutching his shoulder to reveal the shot wound, dripping with blood. We began to take things a bit more seriously, yet it was too late to run, all we could do was hide. Although it wasn't much, we found shelter under the small wooden table, and wrapped our bodies around one another.

My friend Seth turned to us and said, "Start praying, I don't know what is happening, but only God will get us through." I began praying, and asking for the horror to end, and for the police to save us. But instead of ending, it got worse. I could hear screams in the halls, and the sounds of guns and bombs coming closer and closer and closer.

Suddenly, the two killers: Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were in the library telling everyone to stand up. We stayed where we were, and listened as they began their campaign of terror throughout the room. They were picking out students by their physical appearance, such as weight, and skin color, as well as the religious beliefs of several students. They approached several students that day, including Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernall and asking them if they believed in God. Each girl answered YES, and they were killed. I shook uncontrollably under the table waiting for my turn to die. The fire alarms rang out the emergency, the strobe lights flashed, innocent children screamed, and smoke filled the air making it impossible to breathe. Dylan and Eric yelled, "WHOSE NEXT? WHO WANTS TO DIE NEXT?"

I waited for the sharp pain, I waited to meet death face to face, but quickly I uttered a desperate prayer to God saying, "God if you are real, get me out of here alive and I will serve You! Lord I didn't understand then, but now I understand, God I will live for You, just spare my life!" You see prior to this day, I was a party girl. I was concerned about what others thought and being popular. I would drink, try drugs, and mess around with guys, but none of that seemed to make any sense. If I was going to die, I wanted to go to Heaven. Suddenly my worst fear came true as the boys approached the area where we were. They were pushing in chairs to get through, and pushed one into my arm, I could hear them talking, and knew it was my time. Yet, they talked about running out of ammunition. At that point they exited the library and went to reload their guns. We knew they would return, but we found a small window of opportunity and we made our escape.

By the grace of God, I live today to tell my story. I wanted to share this story with you today to encourage you with two main things. First, that you would make a decision to live for Christ. If you are already a Christian, I invite you to take your relationship with Him to a new level. In addition, I ask that you would be bold in sharing the faith you possess. Tell everyone you know about the greatest message ever told! The life changing message of the Gospel. If you have never accepted Christ, I would like to invite you to do so now. There is no better time. We have no certainties in our lives, therefore, we must not wait! I promise that you will not regret this decision.

I want to share how you can come to know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior right now. First and foremost, know with all your heart, that you were created by God to be with Him. He loves you and He is seeking your heart. He desires a relationship with you. Next, you must confess that you are a sinner and you need to be saved. There is nothing you can do on your own, you need Him. You need Him, because He is the only one who can save. God sent His one and only Son to die a brutal death on the cross, to take on your sins and defeat death once and for all. All you have to do is believe this to be true, invite Jesus to come into your heart, and you will have the full assurance of spending eternity with Him, forever! If you did this for the first time ever, WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!

Lastly, I want to encourage you as you will face trials and struggles of many kinds. They are hard, yet they build our character, and refine us more than any other time in our lives. One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 5:3 it says, "... we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character; hope." If we allow God to heal our brokenness and restore us through all the junk in our lives, He will do amazing things! I am not defined by this horrible tragedy in my life, rather I am more of who I am today because of what I experienced. I am thankful for who I am in Christ, and I would never want to go back to the life I used to live! No matter, what it is you are going through, God's grace is sufficient for you today and everyday!

Today as you go through your day, please remember the 13 who were killed as well as their families, the many wounded, the physically unharmed students and the community who still fights to survive.