Your Cross: The Puzzle of God

Why does God let this happen?

It was one of the deadliest shootings in American History. They named it the “Las Vegas massacre”. My friends were yearly attenders at the Route 91 Country Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

We all had a great time together year after year, with lots of laughter and love until life unfolded in a tragic fashion.

Friday, September 29, 2017. My wife and I were in the front right side of the stage with friends, overlooking the Mandalay Bay across the street. We only stayed a short time and then returned to the VIP section. My daughter Vanessa and her friend Brittany were somewhere in the front right of the stage. We had never worried about anything there. Everyone was so nice and pleasant.

Saturday, September 30, 2017. Vanessa and Brittany went to the front of the stage early. Sam Hunt was her favorite’s country singer. My wife and I were in the VIP section, ground floor down right of the stage next to general admission. I have a video of us just having such a great time that Saturday night. It was a really beautiful night that we all enjoyed so much. This was the exact area the bullets rained on innocent people one night later. The area my daughter was in that night was exactly where so many got shot and killed. It makes me sick to my stomach to this day to think about the evil that took place before our very eyes a night later.

Sunday, October 1, 2017. He did not choose Friday or Saturday night. He chooses Sunday. The day of rest and prayer. I find his choice so evil, deliberate, and calculated. Not that any day would be good to kill innocent people.

We were all excited to see Jason Aldean. We got there at 12.30 pm to wait in line. We wanted to make sure we got good seats. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. I remember thinking how nice it was. Not a cloud in the sky. You can hear sound check and vendors getting ready. We entered and walked over to get our seats. We were like a bunch of kids, trying to get to the front of the line for ice cream.

We were all so close to the stage that day. We sat under the tent and enjoyed the day, laughing and taking videos and pictures, listening to country music and loving it. We did this year after year.

Later in the afternoon, Vanessa and Brittany got tired. So we told them to come to the VIP area. They were not supposed to be in VIP that night; they only had general admission tickets. But we got the girls in. I thank God we did. Our friend that came with us for some reason kept saying to bring them into VIP over and over she kept repeating it. It was fate. My whole family was together. Otherwise, they would have been upfront near the stage where the tragedy happened. I could not imagine them not being with us when this happened. It haunts me to think of all the innocent people lost that night. God give us all free will. With that, you have choices made by evil people to kill and do wicked things.

I was prudent with my family and when I heard the first five to six shots, I moved them all behind the couches. Then the barrage of gun fire screamed across the field. We could see bodies falling and I pushed my girls out north towards the Tropicana, away from the barrage of bullets. You could hear the bullets bouncing off the pavement. Heavy volley followed. The speakers and mics were still on at the time of the shooting, so the sound of rapid gunfire echoed all over. It sounded like the bullets were all around us. We had no idea who was shooting at us, and where they were coming from. We just headed away from the sound of the gun shots. I could see more bodies dropping as we exited the VIP tent.

My wife told the girls to pray and run,