What is the significance of the number 51?  If you are counting to 100, it means you are over half there, or that you still have 49 numbers to go.  If you are celebrating a birthday, you can now say:  “I’m more than half a century old.”

If you are among a special class of mothers, it means your heart is broken.  It means that the precious child you held in your arms as a baby is now gone—killed in the line of duty.

51!  50 +1 police officers gave their lives in 2014 as they did their best to protect and serve the people and communities where they lived.  In 2013 the FBI reported that 27 officers died in the line of duty.  This was the smallest number in a single year since 1980.

When I think of these sad and startling statistics, I’m reminded of the words of Paul to Timothy:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,  for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

~I Timothy 2:1-4

Is our society void of a “peaceful and quiet life” because “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings” are not being made for our government officials and on behalf of our law enforcement officers?

Please join me in praying for their safety and protection and for the collective mindset of our nation as a whole.