Dermdoc, Badace, Agliving06, and everyone personally affected by this tragedy - 5th generation Texan here, and although I've never lived in the hill country, my mom and sister both went to Camp Mystic and I've been there to pick her up back in the 90's. I also have a 14 year old son and an 11 year old daughter, and she could have been at Mystic this week (we were looking at this week at Mystic, but we/she chose to attend another summer camp in the DFW area). God's providence and protection in action.
Regarding the press harassing families, when I was 11 my grandfather was lost in a private plane crash down in the lower laguna madre, this was '87. They went down just before Thanksgiving and due to weather, were lost for 3 days. We feared the worst but hoped for the best. He was my best friend at the time and had introduced me to quail hunting, bass fishing and bird dogs. He was responsible for my lifelong obsession with the outdoors. I was devastated of course, but the press parked outside my grandmother's house and not knowing his fate for 3 days were the most gut wrenching experiences of my life. Having not had any contact with human death yet, once they recovered him and his friends, deep emotional scars were left that didn't heal for many years. I learned early on in life that while the press' intentions may have been good, they did not handle my family's tragedy with much respect.
A year down the road I was really struggling, so my mom and dad sent me to a faith-based summer camp in East Texas and I met the Lord and have been walking with him through life's trials and tribulations ever since. During times of sorrow and grief, I take comfort in God's Word, particularly the Old Testament, as God's wisdom and love are revealed in the beautiful poetic style of much of the OT.
Please know that I and my family are praying for each of you and for all of the affected families, and take comfort in the words of the prophet Joel, who wrote of a devastating natural disaster, Judah's response, and God's response to His people:
Joel 2:12-13: Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents in sending calamity.... (v28-32): And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
