Sickness that comes with parenthood...

27 charged in child porn sting
Web site containing live 'molestation on demand' shut down

That's the headline on CNN right now. When I heard about this story on the news earlier, it literally made me sick to my stomach. I know before I was a parent, stories like this bothered me - but now that I have a sweet daughter of my own, this goes right to my core. I am saddened, angered, scared and mostly sick. I can't even begin to imagine how being a partaker in this kind of activity brings any sort of pleasure or satisfaction. In fact, I can't even think any more about it.
It's amazing how stories you hear affect you differently once you become a parent. I watched a few of Oprah's "catch these FBI's most wanted child molestors" shows, and my heart broke. I told my 6 month old daughter to not talk to strangers and even to yell "Stranger Danger" and run away if anyone ever tried to force her to do something she knew wasn't right. We watched Extreme Makeover, Medical Edition..um, I mean Miracle Workers...the other night, and I couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for that sweet couple to watch their son be taken away into the operating room, not knowing if this surgery would paralyze him forever.
What a responsiblity we have, as parents! Yes, it's awesome and I wouldn't trade it for the world - but it's also completely terrifying knowing that there are some things - some wretched, horrible things - that could happen to our children that are beyond our control. I have to entrust God with her everything, and while that's hard sometimes, it's a lot easier than trying to protect her all by myself.