"No Lives Matter"
It all started with a homeless woman, a drunk guy and some graffiti. I know it sounds like a start to a bad joke. But it's true.
It was my husband's 31st birthday. We decided to walk around Norfolk, Waterside (hence the pictures you see here) and just take some photos and get some Thai food.
We had to stop by the local bike shop to test-ride a really cool mountain bike that he had been saving up for. I notice that the bike shop is really crowded, so I sit with my 5 month old son Noah outside.
I hear two drunk guys at 7-11 yelling at eachother. I'm not just talking about bantering. I am talking about full-of-rage cussing and screaming at the top-of-their-lungs things like, "You f..ing piece of sh...!!!!!!" and "Next time, me and my buddies are here, we will get you!!!"
Personally, I think cuss words are stupid and funny. I think that really if someone has a more advanced vocabulary, they can be more creative in their speech. But in this case, two humans, made in the image of God were calling eachother "worthless" with their words.
I was actually almost about to go inside the bike shop, because it was getting so escalated that I thought someone was going to pull out a gun or something. But I also didn't want to miss it because of how humorous it all was. It reminded me of two dogs just barking at each other for no reason at the top of their lungs.
The day before, I am running errands at the dollar tree, when a lady comes up to me asking for money for her charity for the homeless.
I tell her that I don't have any cash.
She asked me, "Are you going into the dollar tree? We need paper plates, paper towels, canned goods and anything else you could give."
I could do that.
I run into the store and pick up papertowels, paper plates, napkins and plastic silverware and $20.
I find her the parking lot. I raise over to her and had her the bags. Tears come streaming down her face. She tells me the most amazing story.
"I used to work for the government. I had it all. I had a big house, a car, clothes. I had a family too. But then I got into drugs and alcohol. I couldn't keep my job. My family was taken away from me and I lost everything and became homeless. The church that I am raising money for, was the one that led me to Jesus Christ and helped me get my life back on track."
Tears are coming to my eyes at this point. Then something crazy happened.
She looked right at me and says, "Do you homeschool?"
I said, "Yes, yes I do."
"The Holy Spirit told me that."
I've seen this happen before. My mother always gets "words" from God for other people. But it doesn't happen a lot for me.
She then started talking about how I have a great mission and that I need to "keep doing what I'm doing, because if you train up a child in the way he should go, they won't leave it when they get older."
Now I was really crying. That was just the message that I needed to hear. I just sit the car, shaking, in unbelief. Sometimes it's so good to hear that God is happy with the things that I am doing. Sometimes I get so discouraged and lonely.
The third story happened today. The family and I were riding our bikes around town when I saw some grafitti scrawled over the wall that we were passing. In big black letters it said, "NO LIVES MATTER."
I am so glad that my 5 year old and my 3 year old can't read fully. I am so glad that they didn't comprehend the words. Or maybe I wish they had read it so that we could talk about it. Either way, it made me think.
It brought me back through the week mentally. On the homeless woman and the two dogs barking. It brought me to the scripture that says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God."
The world is fool of foolish people. People that think that
yelling you "F... piece of sh...!" to someone else is going to change them. People who think that getting involved in alcohol and and drugs to satisfy their life, but in reality, those things can destroy a life. People that think that "NO LIVES MATTER."
I want you to know that you matter.
God sees you. God doesn't just want to throw you away like the world does. He wants to treasure you and lift you up. Your life matter. You have a purpose. Don't let anyone treat you otherwise.
Christal
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