When Safety Shakes: Holding Faith and Fear in Uncertain Times
When Safety Shakes: Holding Faith and Fear in Uncertain Times
By Angel, Founder of AMC Rise and Thrive
Hello beautiful soul 🤍
I’m so grateful you’re here with me today. Truly.
Some weeks pass gently, barely leaving a ripple in our
routines. The days move quietly, and life feels steady. And then there are
weeks that arrive like a sudden jolt to the heart — a reminder of how fragile,
precious, and unpredictable this life can be.
This week was one of those weeks.
It was the kind of week that makes your heart skip a beat. The
kind that forces you to pause mid-task, mid-breath, mid-thought — because
something has shifted.
And when you are a parent, those shifts hit differently.
A Mother’s Heart in a Moment of Fear
There are moments in parenthood when time seems to stop.
This week, my heart dropped into one of those moments.
We received news that a student brought guns to my son’s
middle school. Two guns. Loose bullets. A lockdown initiated after a tip came
in. Staff acted quickly. A search was conducted. The weapons were found.
No one was hurt — thank God.
But relief does not erase the impact.
When you hear words like lockdown and weapons at
school, your mind doesn’t stay calm and logical. It doesn’t sit politely in
reason. It rushes forward into every worst-case scenario imaginable. It paints
images you never wanted in your head. It presses on the most vulnerable place
in your chest — the place that beats for your child.
In a single breath, gratitude and fear coexist.
Gratitude that it ended without tragedy.
Fear because it could have been different.
And once fear knocks, it leaves an echo.
We want to believe school is safe. We need to believe
it. But the world we are raising our children in has shown us, again and again,
that safety can never be fully assumed.
As a mother, that truth hits deep.
Growing Up Where Vigilance Was Normal
I’ve shared before that I grew up near Chicago — in a small
town surrounded by city limits on three sides. You could literally cross the
street and be in Chicago.
And while my town was technically separate, the violence
wasn’t.
Gangs were part of everyday life. Many of my classmates didn’t
live to see the year 2000. That is not dramatic. It is reality.
When I entered high school, strict rules were already in
place. Certain color combinations weren’t allowed because they represented
gangs. Metal detectors stood at the doors. Police officers were on campus
daily. Fights were common. Tension lingered in hallways.
Vigilance was normal.
I also remember coming home in 1999 and seeing coverage of the
Columbine High School massacre on the news. It shocked the nation. But it
wasn’t the first school shooting in American history — and heartbreakingly, it
wasn’t the last. Incidents go back as far as the 1800s. The difference now is
visibility. Information spreads instantly. Tragedy travels fast.
So, when we chose where to plant our roots and raise our
future children, school districts mattered deeply to me. We intentionally
bought our home in a district known for strong academics and solid safety
measures. Officers are present on campus. Protocols are established. Plans are
in place.
And still — moments like this remind us that no system is
flawless.
No building is untouchable.
No policy is perfect.
No parent can fully control the world their child walks into.
That realization humbles you.
The Weight Children Carry Today
What breaks my heart the most is this:
Our children are growing up practicing for danger.
Active shooter drills are now part of normal school life.
Children are taught how to hide. How to barricade doors. How to stay silent.
Those are lessons no child should have to learn.
Even if they laugh it off. Even if they don’t talk about it.
That awareness settles into their nervous systems. It becomes part of their
baseline understanding of the world.
They carry a level of vigilance many of us did not at their
age.
As parents, we feel that weight too.
My son is with me often. And yes, part of that is instinct.
When he is near me, I feel like I can protect him more fully. I can be present.
Alert. Watching.
But I also know I cannot shield him from everything. None of
us can.
And that is the part that brings you to your knees in prayer.
We walk a delicate line:
Preparing without terrifying.
Protecting without smothering.
Staying aware without living in constant fear.
It’s exhausting. And it is sacred.
Faith When Control Is an Illusion
Here is the truth we don’t always want to admit:
We cannot control everything.
We cannot predict every situation. We cannot guarantee
outcomes. We cannot eliminate every risk.
And that reality can be terrifying.
So, what do we do?
We prepare wisely.
We stay informed.
We advocate for safety.
We have honest conversations with our children.
And we pray — not as a last resort, but as a steady anchor.
Faith does not erase fear.
It holds it.
Fear shouts, What if?
Faith whispers, Even then, I am with you.
Prayer does not promise perfect outcomes. It strengthens
hearts. It steadies minds. It reminds us that our children are not solely
protected by our own hands — they are covered by a God who sees what we cannot.
In uncertain times, faith becomes less about having answers
and more about trusting presence.
Trusting that God is with our children in classrooms. In
hallways. In moments we cannot physically stand beside them.
That trust is not passive.
It is active surrender.
Choosing Courage Over Constant Fear
Fear will always knock.
The question is whether we let it move in and rearrange the
furniture.
We are allowed to feel shaken. We are allowed to cry after the
kids are asleep. We are allowed to sit with the weight of “what if.”
But we cannot live there.
Our children need us grounded.
They need to see resilience modeled.
They need to know the world can still hold goodness — even when it feels
fragile.
Courage in this season does not look like pretending
everything is fine.
It looks like continuing to show up.
Continuing to love boldly.
Continuing to hope intentionally.
Continuing to speak peace into anxious moments.
We do not choose faith because fear isn’t real.
We choose faith because love is stronger.
đź’Ž
Affirmations for Uncertain Times
Take a slow breath and let these settle into your spirit:
- I
release what I cannot control and trust God with what I cannot see.
- My
child is surrounded by protection, seen and unseen.
- Fear
does not rule my heart; faith anchors me.
- I
choose calm in moments of uncertainty.
- God’s
presence goes with my family wherever we are.
Repeat them gently. Let them become part of your inner
dialogue.
đź“– Bible
Verse for Reflection
“The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and
forevermore.”
— Psalm 121:8 (NIV)
This verse comforts me deeply. It reminds me that protection
is not limited by location. God’s watchful care does not stop at the school
doors. His presence travels with our children — into classrooms, into buses,
into moments we cannot foresee.
🎵 Song of
the Day
“If I Could” – Regina Belle 🎶
I chose this song because it captures the heart of every
parent.
If we could shield our children from every hurt, we would. If
we could absorb every disappointment, every danger, every fear — we would step
in without hesitation.
One of the most powerful lines in the song says:
“If I could, I’d protect you from the sadness in
your eyes…”
That lyric feels like a prayer.
We want to give our children better than what we had. Many of
us have worked hard to soften their path. But even in better environments, the
world still holds risks.
So, we teach them.
We prepare them.
We pray over them.
We remind them who they are.
And we trust that the strength we are building in them —
through love, faith, and example — will carry them through whatever they face.
As you listen, let it remind you that your protective love is
not weakness. It is power.
Final Thoughts: Staying Soft in a Hard World
Beautiful soul, we are parenting in complicated times.
There is no denying that.
But our job is not to harden in response to fear. It is to
stay grounded. Rooted. Faith-filled.
We cannot control everything.
But we can choose how we meet it.
With prayer instead of panic.
With presence instead of paralysis.
With love that refuses to shrink.
If you felt shaken this week, you are not weak. You are human.
And your fear does not mean you lack faith — it means you love deeply.
Lay the fear down. Not because it isn’t valid, but because you
do not have to carry it alone.
Fear does not define this story.
Faith does.
With love and steady hope,
Angel 🤍
Founder, AMC Rise and Thrive
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