We're facing an issue that's new for us, a local "officer down" story. It's so tragic. A pursuit ensued after a hit & run. An officer was working to get motorists safely out of the way, knowing the speeding driver was heading their way. Sure enough, the man being pursued did continue in that direction and decided to "go out with a bang and kill an _____ cop." He plowed into the back of the patrol car, reportedly driving about 100 mph, killing a young officer. Sgt. Randy White was only 32 and left a wife and five year old child behind.

The driver, of course, lived, suffering a broken leg.

Usually, I wouldn't purposefully expose my children to this sad event, but this time I had to. It's been hard to allow them to hear about it, to see the pictures of the wreck, but as Shane works through his grief for this local officer (he's shared a pot of coffee with him, but is mostly grieving for his child), the girls have to know about it.

This brings up a good issue for law enforcement families: having kids exposed to the hard stuff.

My girls couldn't understand why anyone would do what that driver did yesterday. I don't either, for that matter.

The death sentence came up, as well as what the Bible says about punishment for purposefully taking a life.

Human execution verses inhumane execution styles were discussed at our table today.

Does the Lord forgive sins like this? If he trusts Jesus for his salvation, will they let him go free? Consequences. All of these were touched on as we worked through the news today.

Finally, before we started our school work, we prayed for Sgt. White's family and for the salvation of the driver.

How do you work through these things with your children? How do you help your husband grieve? Shane had to guard the car yesterday, as it had been towed to the SO. He saw the blood stains in the wreckage. How do you enjoy a weekend with that imprinted on your husband's mind? He holds our own five year old closer today, and I know he's aching for a five year old half an hour away. What do you do with that as a wife?

I'd love your thoughts...

Ripple Effects

When 9/11 occured, I didn't really think it would affect us directly, but since Shane worked at Boeing Space & Defense, it eventually trickled down to our little family. He was laid off in 2005.

I may be naive, but right now, I don't see a repeat of this while Shane is at the jail. As a matter of fact, crime rates may very well go up leaving officers of all sorts busier than ever. I've tried to play through this in my mind...
Addicts may not have funds to buy their drugs, prompting them to steal for them.
Tough times bring out the worst in people, so domestic offenses may go up.
The run-of-the-mill hot check writers and driving with no insurance offenders will surely rise.
Maybe the illegals won't want to come here, so ICE related offenses may go down-here's hoping!

Yet on the flip side, if people don't (can't?) pay their taxes, which city/county/state funds get cut first? Hopefully law enforcement personnel won't get touched, but who knows?

Shane had considered other job possibilities but with the economy heading south, we're glad he's where he is. We've been doing a lot of thinking about how to brace ourselves for the future, here's where we are:

*Paying off debt-we are giving up the land we wanted to build on, to raise our family on and pass down to our children. It's worth it to not have consumer debt.
*Buying a house within our means.
*Considering some day trading, but we're not risking much money on Wall Street.
*Thinking about ways to lower our expenses-trying to imagine what we can live without if money gets really tight (we're already thrifty). We're thinking paper goods are the first to go.
*Helping our kids get ready as well-they earn some income but they have to realize their income (from babysitting) may go away if their "client's" job goes away.

I hope the economy doesn't factor into your future in a negative way, but if it does, remember God is not unaware, he knew about it before we did. He still clothes the lilies of the field and not one sparrow falls without him knowing. You are more important than sparrows, lean on Him my friends!