What to say?

Three shootings in our small town area in the last week, the most recent by an 8 year-old who packed a gun to school in his backpack, leave me wondering about a lot of things. But the one that is most pressing is what to say to my children. I have a six year-old and a three-year-old, and I may not need to say anything about the guy who walked into a tire store and began shooting, but when a child only two years older than my own is carrying a gun to school, I feel the need for some dialogue. "Sweetheart, do you ever touch Daddy's (or any) guns?" "No, Mama." "What do you do if you see one not locked up?" "I don't touch it and I come and tell you." Now for the big one. "What do you do if you see someone at school with a gun?" "I tell them that they can't have it there, and I go tell a grownup." Wrong, my love. You run as fast as your precious legs can carry you, as far as you can, and you hide. But that isn't school policy. I have been a teacher, and I know the standard operating procedure. You are to wait inside your classroom with the rest of your class, like sitting ducks, or fish in a barrel. It gives your school the illusion of control, and everyone knows where you are (or should be). So what do I tell her? Daddy was home, and he told her to run to the office and get help. Lots of adults and lots of telephones in the office, he told her. And then bedtime came, and she asked me about the little girl who got shot at school today, whether she was going to be okay. I told her we would pray for her and ask God to protect her and comfort her. I want to protect my daughters, but I can't. That is an illusion, just like thinking that locking children in a classroom and closing the curtains will keep them safe. I am wondering how I can raise my girls without fear in a world where violence is seemingly more frequent, constantly closer to home, and perpetrated by younger and younger children. I want to raise brave girls who have enough common sense to keep out of bad situations, but who have enough courage to live full lives in the places to which they may be called. We are not called to be timid. One of my favorite quotes is "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships were made for." I can't keep my daughters safe. Neither can Daddy, who is next to God in size and ability in their eyes. But I can teach them that wherever they go with God, they are safe, and wherever they go without Him, they are not, like my mother taught me. I can teach them that God's idea of safe is not the same as mine, but His is what matters. And I can let go of what I cannot control, knowing that He is always good, and what He allows into my life will also be made into good, even the unthinkable.