The past few weeks I've been busy building my new website, migrating my blog, meeting the needs of new customers that are using my services and living life in all other
respects. I, like many others, ran into a brick wall last Friday in the wake of the ISIS attacks on Paris following a series of other attacks around the globe including Beirut and a Russian airliner. It was Friday night and I was taking the Sun and two of his friends to a dinner and bonfire held by one of their prospective high schools. We had just dropped the Moon at the gym and I checked my texts before we got back on the road. My circle of moms texting support group had been frantically texting about the attack. I quickly turned on NPR, hushed the boys and for the next 30 minutes listened to reports while on the road.
My own feelings toward what is happening in the world and how we should handle it are quite mixed. Recent attacks combined with friends working in some of the Tennessee's Muslim immigrant community sharing alarming stories with me bring so many concerns to mind that I cannot even sort through the competing thoughts and feelings that I have. But, in the midst of it all is the knowledge that some of our friends are Muslim. In fact, one of my closest friends - an American by birth, is Muslim and her children are among my children's BFF's. Not only are they close friends, they are the only family outside of our own family that we will allow our daughter to stay overnight with and at one time that was also true for our son.
Knowing what I know of this family, I cannot condemn them or associate them with extremist attacks happening. They are not refugees. But, they are representative of many millions of Muslims who do not stand with extremists. I don't know that my own internal struggle will end anytime soon, but I do know that many Muslims do not stand with ISIS. I hope you know it too.
Here are links to more news stories on Muslims who stand for peace:
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