Prayers for the Bears

I didn't sleep much last night. Around 9:40, I got a phone call from a 501-area code number I didn't recognize. As usual, I didn't answer since I didn't know who it was, but upon listening to the message, I heard that something tragic had happened on the UCA campus.

Evidently my cell phone number is still programmed into the UCA Crisis Alert system, and a prerecorded message told me that, if I was in a campus building, to lock the doors and detain all students. A few minutes later a friend texted me to tell me that there had been a shooting on the UCA campus.

My first thought was of friends there. Were they in the wrong place at the wrong time? My second thought is that things like this don't happen in my backyard.

UCA is a safe campus. I would never have been scared to walk around at night there.

My friend Erin, who's a student at UCA, called to tell me that she was safe. I was immensely relived, but still in shock.

Details are still not being released, so I have no idea what premeditated this act of violence. Two UCA students are dead. One "person of interest" is in custody, with three other suspects still at large.

I laid awake for hours, thinking about the state of this country. Violence and hatred are in our backyard, in places I used to work and live. A week ago, the Anne Pressley attack, and now this. It makes me feel completely vulnerable.

The only thing to do is pray. Pray for the victims. For the wisdom of the police department and others working on the case. For the family and friends of those who lost their lives. For a world gone mad. And for the peace of the Savior.