> The thing that provokes me is the belief that
God "allowed" this to happen "for a reason". (This
was something someone at your company had said, so
I understand it's not necessarily your opinion.)

Oh. I see what you mean. No, I don't believe that
God wanted this to happen as part of his sovereign
plan. I really don't think the woman at work who
said that believed that either; it was just a poor
choice of words.

In God's perfect plan, none of this horrible
garbage would be happening, because we never would
have Fallen into sin and the world would never
have been messed up by us like it has been.
Fortunately, God is eternal and knows everything
that ever will happen, and he is able to work all
things together for good.

Grishny