Today, June 14th, marks the six month annivarsary of the devistating shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in NewTown, CT. School Growth is lifting up prayers for grace in the hearts of the familys who's children died that day, as well as for the whole community. I was encouraged by reading this article on how Newtown is looking forward:
This week, only a few feet from the flagpole on Main Street, a new symbol was erected: a lighthouse.
Ben's Lighthouse, a 20-foot green and white wooden lighthouse, was dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy. It's named after 6-year-old Ben Wheeler, who was killed that day.
On Thursday, beams from the lighthouse shone through the murky rain, casting its rays in all directions, north, south, east and west.
Harwood said people throughout the country, wherever they live, want three things: compassion for others, a sense of humility and a concern for the common good.
If you look at Newtown, he said, that's what you'll see.
Take, for instance, the recent decision to raze and rebuild Sandy Hook Elementary School.
"The community wrestled with decisions about how to move forward without sweeping under the rug the challenges and trauma that still exists," he said. "People can look at that and say, `If Newtown can do this, than we can do it in our own community.' "
For many people, First Selectman Pat Llodra has become the face of Newtown. A former principal herself, she has been present at seemingly every meeting and discussion in town about the future.
For Llodra, it comes down to this: Newtown will not be negatively "branded," because the people who live here refuse to let the town be tainted by one man's evil.
"I truly believe the world sees us not for the horrible thing that happened to us, but for what happened subsequent to that," Llodra said. "When President (Barack Obama) came I said, `Newtown will not be defined by what happens to us, but by the acts of love we have for our children and families.'
"We will survive, and we will thrive again."
Source: newstimes.com. Read the full article here.
