On Faith & Family: All lives matter
–By Leah Gibson of Paso Robles
–Life is such a beautiful, thing. A beautiful, messy, incredible, tearful, and unpredictable thing. Some days life seems beautiful and only beautiful. Other days, I feel like every fear, problem and pain are emboldened and illuminated with a great big yellow highlighter, with big letters for all to see.
If you’ve been following my family’s story over the past several months, then you probably know that we have been adding on to our house and have been under major construction for the last nine months. Well folks, we’ve made it, we’re home! (With a few minor projects here and there.) It was a tough road, but now that we are finally in our home and settling back into life, we feel like we can take take a breath…Sort of.
One evening we had friends over to celebrate with us. The mood was high, the kids were laughing and running around the house and we were overjoyed to have the opportunity to do something normal.
Suddenly, the house fell silent.
Now, I’m new to the whole parenting thing, but one thing my husband and I have learned over the past three years with our boys is that quiet may seem like a good thing, but usually…it’s not. We were just about to sit down to dinner, when our friend’s oldest son appeared with a big smile. “Guess what!?” The little boy exclaimed. “Grant made a picture on the wall!”
Sigh.
Leah Gibson
Long story short; our two-year-olf Picasso drew a fabulous, very large picture on the wall. Gorgeous colors, close attention to detail. New paint to follow.
This messy situation has taught me a lot about perspective; I think oftentimes in life we pour a lot of hard work into things we should first think through, pour our efforts in a different direction or avoid altogether. This my friends is what I like to call, the definition of “Leah.” All too often, like my son, my intentions are good but the results are not.
Thankfully, when you’re three, most of your mistakes can be covered with a fresh coat of paint. Unfortunately, as we grow, sometimes our mistakes can’t be covered and we end up hurting other people in the process. Been there, done that.
Something that comes to mind most recently in our media that I believe many are pouring their best efforts into is the “Black Lives Matter,” movement. I see the hard work and great intentions and I wholeheartedly agree. Black lives matter. So much! However, what started as a great intention I feel has become an even greater mess. Because somewhere in the process of “Black Lives Matter,” it seems many have forgotten that policeman’s lives matter. The lives of the unborn matter. The elderly matter.
You matter.
We as people are all for the movements, all for the protests, but have we ever stopped to ask ourselves why?
Why do we matter?
All the tampon commercials tell me I matter because I am woman, hear me roar! I’m worth it! I’m a rockstar.
Friends, maybe some of you can live up to that, but I know that I for one just finished dumping coffee on my shirt. Believe me, I’m no rockstar.
Maybe you feel that way too? Maybe despite your best efforts, you just aren’t making the cut, hitting the target or scoring the goal. So there must be some other reason that we matter.
I don’t know where you’ve found your answer. But here’s where I’ve found mine: Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise You, (God) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, (God’s) and I know that full well.
This verse has given me so much freedom, that I wanted to share it with you in hopes that you can find it too because I know what it is like to wonder why you matter. My reason is not because of anything I have done, but because God my Savior loves me despite my failings and my sin.
I don’t know what you’ve done or where you’ve been, or how many times you’ve marred up the walls of your life. I can only speak to my own failings, which are more than there are numbers that exist. But my prayer for you is that today you will stop pouring out your human efforts and allow God to pour on you the gift of new life in Jesus Christ, His son.
With this in view, I would like to take a moment to thank all of the police officers and public servants who pour out their lives for us on a daily basis. I would like them to know that they are in our prayers and that they are loved and appreciated. But most of all, that they too have someone who was willing to lay down His life for them.
