"J" is for Joyful Heart

"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit  dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22

I have spent lots of hours in prayer. Praying for our world, for the sadness that seems to fall over us at the most innocent times. Like watching a movie and having your life turned inside out. Losing a loved one. Feeling as though you are trying to run away in a bad dream. Through all of it the Lord never falters. He never leaves our side. He will never abandon us.

I felt that writing about a joyful heart during my  Alphabe Thursday post would help my healing.  I was terribly saddened by the shooting last week in Aurora, Colorado. My goodness, I live with 20-30 minutes from there, depending on the traffic flow! I started watching the T.V. reports.  I started to see the faces of young people, gunned down by a well planned, methodical man who's name I will never speak of . I get upset when the T.V. and internet blast his image and that of his attorney for me to see! I feel as though I am staring into the soul of Satan himself. So when his face appears I shut my eyes and I pray that God will remove his face from my mind.

I was feeling so sad and unable to concentrate for the first few days. I prayed for answers and I realized it hit me like a ton of bricks because my own phamily. So many of the victims were young, beautiful, vibrate people like my own children. Then my oldest son said he knew one of the victims. Jesse Childress, an Air Force reservist who worked at Buckley A.F. Base in Aurora. It just really struck me hard. Then the Lord gave me the verse I posted here. I am not making light of the shooting but there are many joys that have risen from it already!

Baby Hugo Jackson Medley born July 24th. His father Caleb was shot protecting  his pregnant wife Katie during the shooting.   Caleb took a bullet in his eye and is in critical condition at the University Hospital. When Hugo was born and Katie took him to see his dad the family said Caleb's blood pressure became stable when he heard his sons cries! Caleb is in a drug induced coma.

Christian Bale and his wife visited with the victims at local hospitals and were photographed at the memorial site. They looked like regular folks although his sad expression made me respect him for taking his time to make this journey.  He came here privately, on his own without a lot of studio hoopla. Just a concerned citizen. It made lots of people smile especially many of the victims at the hospital recovering.

Petra Anderson was shot several times. You may have read her story. The 22 year old musician was shot in the head but when the bullet passed through her brain it missed all significant areas of the brain!  Her pastor blogged about it at Celtic Straits! A small joy in a huge tragedy!

Jessica Ghawa's family have started a scholarship fund. They are hopeful another young woman will want to enter the world of sportscasting. They said they would not let Jessica die in vain!

`Pierce O'Farrill a survivor who was released from the hospital hopes to meet the shooter one day in prison. He would like to tell him he has forgiven him and will ask if he can pray for him.

Brenda Kay Pourciau has a long road ahead of her filled with lots of surgery and therapy. She lost part of her knee in the shooting. She just graduated high school in Baton Rouge, Louisana and was on a road trip with a friend. They had left Seattle and decided to stop in Denver. A movie sounded good! She and her friend were in the back of the theater when she was hit. She said a great peace came over her and they crawled out of there. Once inside the lobby she could not crawl anymore. Along came Chris Lakota, just out of the Spiderman movie. He carried her into the arms of a waiting patrol car. That officer rushed her and another victim to the hospital. Without their fast thinking Brenda would have lost her leg!

My joyful heart does not take away from those who lost their lives so violently. It just lets the world know that good can come from evil and we should never lose faith in our fellow man. In the days to come these families will grieve. They will be angry. They will be sad. But they will never forget the loved ones they lost and will always have their joyful memories with them.