I sent my daughter to school today.

We were told earlier in the week that there had been a threat of violence at the High School planned for today, March 23rd. We were given enough notice to let the threat sink in…to decide how to react. My daughter was given a choice: she could stay home—where safety was guaranteed, and family would be close—or she could walk out the door, board the bus, and head to school as usual. She chose to go. “I don’t really feel afraid, mom,” she told me, but as we stood waiting for her bus to come, she asked me to pray over her. I knew her mind was on the possibilities…on the unknowns and the what-ifs. But she chose to go. It took everything in me not to pull her back—not to pull all four of my babies back inside and keep them close—but I let her go, because she wanted to. I drank deeply of the air surrounding that moment—I wanted that ability to trust so deeply in the One that sees even the sparrow—that ability to step out into a tangled mess of unknowns and fear, and to just trust.

The truth is, none of us are promised tomorrow. Every day we step out into a tangled mess of unknowns, and although the fear isn’t always there, we aren’t guaranteed that we will be. We aren’t guaranteed that the people we love most in the world are going to walk back through the door at the end of the day. Every day counts, and it matters what we do with it. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound judgment. My daughter chose to step out the door into an unforgiving and angry world that desperately needs every bit of love and peace that she has in her heart to share. And although my protective mama’s heart wanted to keep her here, I know she was right to go. We are all called to step boldly out into the unknown of each day, pour as much love and light into it as we can, and then hope for a better tomorrow.