Day 192 -- Our Safe Place

I gritted my teeth and tried to stifle my anger tonight as I heard the first bottle rockets go off in the park across the river.  I was laying on the floor next to Breslin in his sleeping bag (that's where he sleeps now), willing him to stay asleep even though the noise was significant coming through the open window.  "Sometimes, I really hate living here," I thought to myself.  But, almost immediately after this thought materialized in my brain, it was replaced by a picture of a mom and her kids in a shelter; then a mom protecting her children from an abusive boyfriend; then a mom covering her toddler's ears as gunshots ring out from the apartment next door.

Dang.

The fact that there are people out there who live in a place where they do not feel safe has really been on my heart lately.  This is something that I have so taken for granted up to this point in my life.  I have never lived in a place where I have felt unsafe.  Tonight, there are people going to bed who cannot feel secure because of things like the neighborhood they live in or the people they live with.  Or, they are going to bed in a strange place because they do not have a place of their own.  Now that I have children, I realize how important the security of a safe and constant location is.  I know that my children have a safe place they can lay their heads at night.  It is truly scary to think of the alternative.

So tonight, I am thankful that my family was blessed with a home in which we can sleep safe and sound.

Breslin didn't even wake up, after all, and the noise stopped after about 10 minutes.

Thank God for our safe place!

Lord, thank you for blessing us with our home.  Thank you that it is in a relatively quiet and peaceful neighborhood.  Please help me to remember this and not take it for granted.  Please give comfort to those who are missing this part of their lives tonight.  Help them to find a place that is safe and secure.  In your name I pray, Amen.

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