On this third Sunday of Advent I echo Mary’s exclamation, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord,” but my heart beats heavy and I proclaim it through tears. I watch the news, witness innocence slain in the presence of evil and I don’t have to sit across from a mother at her kitchen table to understand her sorrow.

And I don’t want to be one more voice adding to the crowds giving opinion but I will join the collective cry at heaven’s gate, begging for mercy and waiting for His return.  Because we need a Saviour, more than anything else this Christmas. We need a Saviour who bore our sin so that we can live free.

Will you join me in bending our hearts to prayer for the families of the twenty- eight who died on Friday in Newtown, CT? May we rejoice in knowing He is good, even in tragedy.