A reflection about being wrapped in God's grace

Psalm 121:7 “The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.”

The events of Wednesday night’s gunman hoax won’t soon leave the memories of students, especially those who live in Culbertson.

Wednesday night, I laid down for the evening around 8 pm. A little over an hour later, some loud yelling outside my window woke me up. I knew going to sleep early would mean the possibility to be woken up by students who had a bedtime far later than mine so I casually rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. It quickly became apparent to me that something what wrong when I heard a car come to a screeching halt outside and a man on a megaphone telling people to get back and go back into their dorms.

Now, for those of you who know me, the word dorm drives me absolutely insane. We live in residence halls in Wise and I often find myself correcting people who say otherwise. As I rolled over to peek out my window, my stomach turned to knots and my heart started to race.

10 police cars, from campus, to county, to state, were parked outside of Culbertson. Some were up on the sidewalk, some were blocking traffic. I noticed about 10 officers walking towards the building, carrying assault rifles and hand guns.

Immediately, I texted a friend who lives on the first floor.

What the heck is going on?

All I got back was a simple, “I don’t know but stay in your room.”

I took a few pictures on my phone and tweeted one. Not knowing fully what was going on, I just described the picture. It was almost immediately retweeted. Strange, I thought. There must be something more.

Then, the texts started to flood my phone. People were asking if I was okay. People wanted to know what was going on. I texted back I didn’t know but I would find out. I slowly went to my door and peeked through the peep hole. I saw officers walking the halls with guns. I decided not to open the door and figured it was a drug thing. I’m okay, I thought. I’m safe…well, kinda.

The knock at my door was soft. I opened it and talked to my suitemate.

“They’re looking for a man in sweatpants with a gun!” she said. “The police officer with a gun told me I had to get back inside. All I wanted to do was throw my trash away.”

My heart sank into my stomach. A man with a gun. I wasn’t as safe as I thought.

The first alert message came. “Hunker down; gunman on campus.”

A few phone calls and texts later, the second alert came.

“Lockdown continued. Alleged gunman on campus. Stay put! Lock all doors until further notice!”

I hid under my bed, covering myself with a blanket. I couldn’t help myself; I was shaking and crying. All I wanted to do was go to sleep and wake up, realizing this was only a dream. But it wasn’t a dream. I looked out my window again to see a kid walking away with a police officer.

I recognized the kid as someone who lived on my hall. I didn’t feel like he was someone I had to worry about since he wasn’t in handcuffs but I knew something was up. It was 18 degrees outside and he was wearing shorts, a t shirt, and sandals. I, again, returned under my bed until the next horrific action took place-this is where I really lost myself.

I heard a knock at the door. I crawled out from under my bed and was peeking through the peep hole when a flashlight shown on me from behind.

“Are you alone in here?”

The deep voice seemed to rattle and chill my bones. I couldn't turn around. I just stood there, frozen.

“Turn the light on. Are you alone?”

I flipped the light on and slowly turned around. A man was standing in my bathroom door way with a gun up. The sight of the assault rifle made hot tears sting my eyes. I shook my head yes. The police officer came in and lowered his gun.

“Has anyone told you what’s going on?” His eyes were kind but his stance was still stern. He was doing his job and even though I was terrified, I appreciated it.

A small, almost inaudible no sir came from me. It didn’t even sound like me.

The officer took a step towards me, looking under my bed to where I had been hiding. The looked up at me. He knew I was scared. He knew I had been under there.

“We’re looking for a man, grey sweatpants, masked. He has a gun. Have you seen him?” I shook my head no as he opened my closet.

“I know you’re scared,” the man said. “Stay put. Lock the door behind me. Turn off your lights and do not make any noise. Do you understand? Get under your bed and don’t make a sound.”

He didn’t wait for a response. As he cracked my door open, he yelled, coming out! Clear!

I held the door open for him and snuck a peak into the hall. Oh, how I wish I hadn’t.

There were five officers, including the one who had been in my room. They were all dressed with protection. They all had serious looks. The one across the hall who had his gun pointed at my door smiled a weak smile, almost to tell me it was going to be alright. I shut my door, locked it, and returned under my bed to hide.

After reassuring people I was okay, I heard the editor of our school’s newspaper was going to be on CNN covering what was happening. I crawled out from under my bed, turned the TV on, and set the volume on two, just so I could hardly hear it. As Jordan filled the CNN anchor in, a text came in that said this was all a hoax. Jordan said the same thing not 20 seconds later and CNN awkwardly cut to commercial. When they came back, nothing was said about UVa-Wise. Nothing was said to reassure people we were okay.

My mind was blown. The all clear message came at 11:00.

I’m not saying I’m mad about this happening. In fact, I’m grateful. I know that we are safe in case an emergency like this happens. I can be confident when I pass the police office that the people working inside know how to handle the situation that arises. I know that the students in Wise will listen and follow directions and not run around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. But mostly, I’m grateful that I serve an amazingly powerful God. How many prayers from across the world (literally) were sent up and asked to keep this campus and the people on it safe? How many people prayed for our God to show them a sign things were going to be alright? And He did…because that’s what God does.

Psalm 145: 19 says God shows favor to those who honor him, listening to their cries for help and saving them. 

How great is our God?