As I woke my son up for school this morning, I thought about all the mamas who will never get to do that again. I crawled into his little bed, held him, and smelled his sweaty mop of blonde hair. I kissed his forehead and thanked Jesus for his life.

As I sent him off to school with his little blue bookbag on his back, I thought of all the parents who did that, just yesterday, never thinking that it would be their last time. Parents who, I’m sure, have already replayed their last moments and last words exchanged with their children in their minds over and over.

As I made my daughter lunch and folded tiny pieces of laundry and picked up toys and sorted through school papers… my mind couldn’t even begin to grasp this tragedy and my heart ached for the innocent lives lost, and for the families that will never be the same. I was reminded what a gift there is, here in the mundane tasks of mothering. The honor and the privilege that was taken away from the mamas who lost their babies yesterday.

As I picked my son up from school, I breathed a sigh of relief to see his smiling face and feel his little hand slip into mine. My heart ached for the mamas who would give anything for those simple joys just one more time.

Like so many mamas, all over the United States today, I’m holding my babies a little tighter, hugging them a little longer, and I’m reminded yet again of how fleeting this gift of life can be. How sacred childhood is. How not-promised tomorrow might be. How every moment we have with our kids matters.

This world we are living in is so broken. It’s heavy. Jesus is our only hope. His grace and mercy and loving kindness finds us in our hurt, holds us up when we can’t take another step, and gives our lives meaning and purpose.

Jesus, we need You.

Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. Praying for everyone affected by yesterday’s senseless tragedy in Uvalde, TX. Words just aren’t enough.

“For when we do not know what to pray, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings that words can not express.”

Romans 8:26

“The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Psalm 34:18