Where were you when the news hit about President Kennedy's assassination (November 22, 1963)? When the news hit about MLK Jr's assassination (April 4, 1968)? When the news hit about planes hitting the Twin Towers in New York (September 11, 2001)?

Where were you when the news hit about the Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado (April 20, 1999)? I remember it clearly. I was teaching at Garrett Middle School. It's hard to believe the deadliest school shooting occurred twenty-five years ago.

The lives of twelve students and one teacher were taken that day. Twenty-one others were wounded, including Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson. 

In this interview, Kacey shares her story of being shot in the library, her recovery, and how those challenges prepared her for the challenges she would face in the following years. 

Kacey’s daughter, Logan, was diagnosed with aniridia, or the absence of irises in her eyes. She knew what she’d learned would help her parent a child with disabilities. She said, “Only God could have known that the injuries I sustained at Columbine would turn into a huge blessing with regard to my parenting journey.”
Kacey is on the Board of Directors for the Limb Preservation Society.

Notable quotes from this episode with Kacey Johnson: 

•	"In that most horrific moment of my life also came the proof that I love a living God and that He's bigger than the absolute worst kind of evil that was right in my face. He's bigger than that. It gives me so much to live for."
•	“I’d become comfortable in the trauma I knew and how I was just surviving it. I didn’t know how to get out of the surviving and into the thriving. And I wanted to be thriving as a parent and not just surviving.”
•	“God has ultimately transformed the shotgun slug that tore through me into seeds that have grown to produce very good fruit in my life. The fiery missile of hate that burned through my body has not had the pleasure of destroying me, and what was ultimately meant for evil will continue to be choked out by all the beautiful good that is still to come.”

Bible verses: 
•	Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
•	Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

Connect with Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson:
Her website: https://kaceyjohnsonspeaker.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaceyRuegseggerJohnson
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaceyjohnsonspeaker

100: God Is Bigger Than the Worst Kind of Evil: Columbine 25th Anniversary with Kacey Johnson

Melony Brown

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