Running With You

This is a photo taken last week in Minneapolis after the school shooting at Annunciation Catholic School. I saw the image on the news and on social media. I am sharing one post that I saw dozens of times that accompanied the above photo. 

To the mom in Minneapolis today who ran barefoot toward the school - shoes in hand, fear in her heart - millions of moms around the world were running with you. 

We may not know your name, but we know your soul. 

Because every mom saw themselves in you.

The desperate sprint. The shaking hands. The prayer that your child is safe. 

You ran toward the unthinkable because that's what moms do - love makes us run through fear. And while you carried your shoes, you carried the weight of every parent who has ever whispered, "Please, not my baby."

We shouldn't have to run like this. Not in our neighborhoods, not to our children's schools. Yet here we are - another day, another headline, another broken piece of our hearts. 

But please know this: you weren't alone. Every mom, every dad, every human who still believes children deserve safety and innocence - were running with you. 

I can't get this image out of my head. Every parent’s worse nightmare. When I saw my own two kids last week after this horrible event happened, they were shaken. How many hundreds and hundreds of times had they been at church for a school Mass? Despite the distance from Pontiac to Minneapolis, it hit close. 

I don't have the answers for our world's problems. Keep praying. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

At first, these words might sound like they belong to triumph or victory. But their deepest meaning is discovered in suffering. This verse doesn’t promise that life will be free of violence, fear, or tragedy. Instead, it reminds us that when we feel weak, powerless, and overwhelmed, God’s strength can hold us up. In the face of such an unthinkable loss, we realize quickly that our own strength is not enough. 

Parents, teachers, classmates, and communities cannot carry this weight on their own. Yet, Philippians 4:13 whispers that we do not have to. God steps into our weakness and lends us His strength to get through the next moment, the next day, the long road of grief and healing.

For those who grieve, this verse can be a lifeline: the assurance that when you can’t imagine how to keep moving forward, you don’t have to do it alone. God empowers you — not to erase the pain, but to help you survive it, and to carry love and hope even into the darkest places.

This verse reminds believers that God’s strength can carry them when their own strength is gone. It offers a hope that healing and courage to move forward don’t have to come from within alone — God can provide it.