Five law enforcement officers were killed in the late hours of Thursday, July 7, with several others wounded, when a gunman opened fire from a rooftop targeting police officers. If you have watched the news or accessed Facebook you have seen our nation be consumed and devoured by hatred. If only for a moment, let us stop pointing fingers and instead stand together in prayer for those who need it the most. Peace, unity, and solution-based dialogue should be on everyone’s lips. Not violence, hatred and divisive language.

We must pray for Dallas. We must pray for the mothers who lost their children, the wives who lost their husbands, and for the kids who will never see their fathers again. We cannot begin to fathom your loss but we pray that you may find peace in knowing that your loved one was nothing short of an everyday hero. For that we are forever grateful.

This is not Dallas. This is not Texas. This is not our country. We are better than this. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be a part of the greatest country in the world. I look forward to watching our nation, the state of Texas and the law enforcement community heal as we rally around one another and comfort each other in this difficult time.

I am thankful to know a savior whose arms are opened wide to all of those who seek him — regardless of the color of their skin. I take comfort in the fact that some of our brothers in Christ are now safe in the arms of Jesus.

I feel like there is so much more that needs to be said but it feels inadequate when I begin to think of the great loss our nation has suffered and those whose suffering has just begun.