A mother's journey to peace.

By Pastor Ana Becerra

As I have been struggling with feelings of pain and helplessness while watching our Afghan siblings fight to escape their homes, we received the terrible news on Thursday, August 26th that our troops were attacked at Hamid Karzai International Airport by suicide bombers and gunmen. This was the deadliest day for US military (13 killed) in Afghanistan since 2011.

The next day, I received a call from my son Joshua, a Navy corpsman, who shared with me his grieving. There is no training to prepare a mother to deal with the pain when she sees her son suffering. In that moment, I could only remind Joshua (and myself) that God is our anchor. God promises to walk with us even in the midst of such a horrific tragedy.

As a Navy mom I have to support and honor any orders that Joshua might receive. And he will always be my little boy! Holding onto both of these things at once is difficult and causes me pain.

Even though my heart aches, I experience moments of comfort like during the prayers from last Sunday's morning worship service at CtK. The power of prayer is real. And when I heard the prayers raised by voices from Cristo Rey, I was reminded that I am not alone. None of us are alone in our journey towards healing, justice, and peace.

As God's people, we are called to continue to find ways to bring justice to ALL. I ask you to please continue to pray for those 13 families that lost their children as well for all the military families who continue to walk with and support our service members -- our children, partners, and parents.

May the power of the Holy Spirit move us to find ways to show compassion to one another and to share God's peace.

Amen