We live 6 miles from Sutherland Springs, Texas and on a hot Sunday morning in November, a mentally deranged individual decided it was time to kill people and walked into God’s House and slaughtered 26 Christians and wounded 20. This is the epitome of pure hate!
I have always thought that if any mass murder, terror attacks, etc came to South Texas it would be in San Antonio where the military bases are. I never felt that living in the country between two very small towns we would have to worry about mass anything. Clay is a retired SA Fire Fighter and I am retired Federal worker. I remember before we retired in 1999 that he told me they were beginning to train for mass incidents. We just never believed it would come so close to our little rural Wilson County. So peaceful and quiet, although much busier than 21 years ago when I moved here. The little Community of Sutherland Springs, Texas did not do anything to deserve this horrible man made disaster. So sad and shocking to me.
Now there are countless people who have lost family, loved ones, friends, children to this madman. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the individuals impacted by this brutal attack and we ask that God help the survivors heal and that those who lost loved ones, family or friends.
I find myself constantly asking myself where has my America gone? What has caused this country to go so bad? What has caused all the anger? What can be done to stop the craziness? I can answer those questions, can you?
I was born during WWII, experienced Korean War, Cuba, lived through the riots of the late 1960’s and the Civil Rights era, Vietnam War, Iran and terrorism beginning in 1979, the Lockerbie bombing in the 1980’s, hijacking of airlines, Bush 41 Iraq War, all the killing of our Military in the 1990’s, 911, and the Iraq war. But even through all of this the country stayed together until 2000.
Now this country has gang problems, drug problems, social problems, and individuals who have mental issues that are not treated. Rather than discuss political issues in a peaceful way the way it was before 2000, it appears that the choice is to destroy business, be hateful to people who do not agree with our beliefs, disrespect our American Flag and way of life, call White people Racists or White Supremacists (which is NOT true), or remove our great American History from the record books. History will repeat itself if we do not remember how we got here in the first place.
But whatever is causing the killings of innocent people it must stop and Americans must take control of their own environment by becoming more observant, and not be politically correct, nor ignore family members who are exhibiting strange behavior.
There are two Heroes who have emerged from this disaster, the young man who drove the truck with the gentleman who shot the madman. May God Bless them also. We need more individuals like this in our Country.
This is not meant to be a political statement, it is a statement of fact. I do not have the answer, the genie is out of the box and now it is up to God to help this country return back to some type of normalcy!
May God Bless those Souls who are now with him and the family, friends, loved ones left behind to pick up the pieces. My heart goes out to you!
Chopin - A Passionate Quilter From Texas 
Thank you. So well said & appreciated.
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Just like being in the Twilight Zone
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I do not know what to say. God knows.
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He is the only one that knows.
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I didn’t sleep a wink last night and my husband and I both had to leave work early today for some “mental health” time of our own. My phone was blowing up so bad I finally had to put a FB post out that we were all fine, and today at work I received calls from people I hadn’t spoken to in years, one was in tears, and they were saying they were worried about me and mine. It’s little things like that that give you faith. I go to the Cowboy Fellowship just down the road from the SS 1st Baptist but didn’t go yesterday. When I read that his MIL had a PO Box in SS, I kind of wondered if this wasn’t some type of domestic situation gone very, very wrong. Those poor innocent souls. I know Sheriff Tackitt personally and I struggle emotionally to see him close to tears on TV. You know he had to know people lying dead in that church. And Keith and I are very close to Troy Finch and his family. He will be overwhelmed over the next weeks with funerals and burials. And 1st Baptist? Beyond the heart-wrenching loss of his daughter and parishioners, a pastor’s livelihood is gone. The church will probably be dozed to the ground since half the congregation is dead and no one will want to worship in that building any longer. If I had the money to give him a new building, I would. Maybe he’s a good candidate for the Mueller Metal Building giveaway they do every year on Texas Country Reporter. This awful, horrible event reaches far and wide.
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It will take a long time, if ever for the healing to begin. I heard this AM that the pregnant lady (8 months with her 4th child) and 3 of her children were killed! No words.
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Very well said. It is time to go back to good family values and helping our neighbors. My heart hurts for this community and it’s families. I live on a very small cul-de-sac and I know all my neighbors. We watch out for each other and that is the way it should be.
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God walks with us if we let him. I believe the education that the children are getting is becoming full of HATE. They then go on to College for more hateful teaching. Why can’t we stop the Professors, etc. and fire them. I don’t care what Party you belong to; but Obama has divided this Country. Prayers are given to all who has been affected by this mass killing.
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Amen. Just so sad.
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The killing was terrible. I just hope we as a group of people don’t become so “used” to these happenings. My prayers go to the whole community. You did not sound “political” in any way.
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I don’t understand the world today. It is really sad when I have to talk to my daughter about what to do if this happens while you are in school (or when she was in Washington DC last week). It is crazy. Can we please go back to the days when we played in the back yard til dark, went to school and church without worrying about shooters, didn’t think twice about going to a shopping mall because it was a big target? I don’t want to have to worry about this stuff or have my daughter or her children worry about the crazy world we created. I can not even fathom the devastated lives in this small town. I hope they all find some peace.
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