If you have been on Facebook, or the internet in general this weekend, you have probably read about the tragedy in Paris.  Hundreds of people were attacked in restaurants and a concert, as well as outside a soccer game.  I’ve seen the videos, heard the stories, and my heart breaks for that city.

In 2012, Michael and I had the opportunity to go to Paris for our fifth anniversary.  When we were planning to go, a lot of people warned me that the people in Paris were rude.  However, I never met a single rude person in Paris, or anywhere in France.  In fact, the people I met were helpful, funny, kind, sarcastic, inspiring, and incredible.

We enjoyed the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, but it’s the humanity of Paris that attracted me to the city.  The night that the terrorists attacked, Parisians opened their homes to those who couldn’t get back to their own.  It exemplified the heart I met 3 years ago.

These kinds of attacks can happen anywhere, and they have happened.  In cities, towns, and schools, unspeakable acts of anger and hatred that devoured someone to the point of taking the lives of the innocent.  But I find that in each of those stories of sadness, there are sparks of hope.  People come together to mourn with those who have lost loved ones.  They come to heal together, remember together, and rebuild together.

Hope is not lost.  Love continues to stand against the darkness of this world.  I pray for Paris as it heals from this tragedy.  May God give you comfort and peace in the moments you need it the most.