Some of you may have heard about the Kansas people who were on a language arts trip to Costa Rica and were swept into the ocean by rip currents. At first, I thought that it was just a horrible tragedy, then I realized that my little cousin just graduated from the school that the kids were from and probably knew them, so it made the story a little closer-to-home. This same school suffered a loss a couple of years ago when a student was getting her senior pictures taken with a Bengal tiger which attacked and killed her. I was brokenhearted for these kids who have seen a lot of pain for such a small school. Then I heard the name of the teacher who was still missing in the Atlantic and realized that he is the little brother of a girl that I have known since the 2nd grade. I lost touch with most of my friends when I left high school to be home schooled, and then saw even less of them after I moved to Wichita. Angie is one of the few people from Ark City that I have talked to since I moved. I see her at Arkalalah every year and she did my hair for my cousin's wedding a few years ago. In fact, as maid-of-honor, I paid for the entire bridal party to get their hair done and Angie gave me a huge discount (she said "this is a very good day to be my friend!"). Her brother has been missing since this weekend and I can't imagine what she and the family are going through. Please keep them all in your prayers.

Also, please pray for all of the students and faculty at Labette County High School. Events like this will affect these kids for the rest of their lives. I only attended high school for 1 semester of my sophomore year, but during that time, we had one death by Russian Roulette, one suicide, one death in a car accident and two near fatal car accidents - all within a 6 week time frame. For weeks, the student body was an emotional mess. I'll never forget those few weeks for many reasons (it was the beginning of the worst 2 years I have ever endured), but we certainly learned how to cope with tragedy -- the hard way.