The following is our son, Jason’s, third guest post. He is becoming so popular we may just have to keep him as our Thursday feature. Today’s post is sobering to say the least–it had this Mama crying, as it very well should have. 

The Romantic Vineyard. Relationships. Marriage. Demonstrating love for your spouse. Living together in unity. As I sit here trying to write a blog post that somehow relates to romance, marriage, or raising a family, I can’t stop thinking about Boston. Every thought in my head, every sentence I type ends up leading back to what happened on Monday. I can’t come up with any topics that don’t conjure up those horrifying images.

But no. I need to write about romance. I have to come up with some subject that I can tie back to marriage. So I begin to write about blessing my wife in some way, which leads to remembering the races I ran with her… and then I see the women lying on the sidewalk, their legs next to them. I attempt to change the subject to my children, raising a family. Ashley and I just found out we’re having a little boy in September—our first boy. And I remember Martin Richard, the eight-year-old who was killed by a bomb while watching a race with his parents. I’ve watched races with my girls from similar sidewalks. Martin’s six-year-old sister lost her leg. My daughter will be six this year.

I can’t do this. I know we’re supposed to be good Americans and move on. To show fear is to let the terrorists win. We’re supposed to have our moment of silence for the victims and get on with the baseball game.

Well you know what? This time, I can’t do it. Not yet. I don’t live in fear. I know that God is still in control. But I’m not ready to move on from this. It doesn’t feel right. Not yet. Maybe this terrorist attack has taught me that I should value every minute I spend with my wife and children. To not take any second of life for granted. Maybe that would be a good blog post. But not yet. Not today.

_____________________________________________