Skip to main content

Your life is worth living


Sometimes, as a parent, I come across a news story or a statistic or a blog that breaks my heart in a million pieces, because even though it's not about YOU, there's always, always the image of your face. Like today. Today, I read that suicide is the second leading cause of death in children aged 10-24, and I thought "What if that was you? What if you decided that you were better without this world, that this world was somehow BETTER without you?"

And I wanted to tell you that this will never be true. NEVER.

I remember the day you were born and the moment they placed you on my chest for the first time. I remember how I looked into your half-open eyes and thought about all the prayers I'd prayed for you and all the plans I'd made for you, and I knew my life was forever changed and immeasurably better because you were in it. I pictured God knitting together your little body and filling it with personality, and I sat in awe of His masterpiece. I breathed in your scent and knew I would love you - always.

Please never doubt that.
Even if you're bullied, gay, unpopular, paralyzed, broke, pregnant or arrested.
Even if you don't get invited to prom.
Even if you get fired from your job.
Even if you get dumped by text.
Even if you're raped in the backseat of a car.

Sometimes I will be angry with you and disappointed in you, and I will want better for you, but I will always love you - recklessly, overwhelmingly and unconditionally.

But even if I didn't, even if NOBODY DID, it wouldn't change the fact that your life is worth living. There will probably be days when it doesn't feel that way, days when you're sobbing into your pillow, crushed by the weight of a break-up or a fight with your best friend. I've been there, and I remember when those things didn't feel like LITTLE things. They felt like heart-shattering, life-altering things. Things that made me feel unwanted and unloved. Things that made me feel alone and tired of struggling. But in the years that have followed, there have been so many days that have made me think "How could I ever have wanted to miss this?" Simple days when I was eating pizza on the couch in my sweats or driving down the highway with the music up and the sun shining on my face. Big days when I was walking down the aisle in a white dress or laying in a doctor's office hearing your heartbeat for the first time.

And trust me, days like that WILL follow. I know it's so, so hard to see now, but those hard times don't last forever.

So please, no matter how bad it gets, don't give up. Come to me, and we'll figure out a way to make things better. And if you feel like you can't come to me, go to SOMEBODY....go to your best friend or your youth minister or a random stranger on a suicide hotline, but go to somebody. Don't try to hold it in and don't try to be strong and fight these demons on your own. Because if you lose this battle, it's permanent. And it's not just permanent for you. Every person you touched would be irreversibly changed. I would have to pick out a coffin for you and watch as they lowered a piece of me into the ground, and I can't see how that pain would ever go away.

So please, please, please don't be one of the statistics. I know this just looks like words on paper, but find a way to make them real and find a way to feel alive because you deserve that.

Believe that you are absolutely irreplaceable.

Believe that you are beautiful, you are loved, you are priceless, you are created, you are worthy.

No. matter. what.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beautiful song, beautiful words

I made You promises a thousand times I tried to hear from Heaven But I talked the whole time I think I made You too small I never feared You at all No If You touched my face would I know You? Looked into my eyes could I behold You? What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? I guess I thought that I had figured You out I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about How You were mighty to save Those were only empty words on a page Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame? And a God who gave l...
1 comment
Read more

With great power comes great responsiblity

Today I was on a celebrity's social media site, browsing the comments underneath a picture she posted speaking out against abortion, and I was honestly surprised by the thousands of hateful comments she got. People were angry and defensive and so sure in their belief that sometimes abortion was the best choice. At first I just felt sad and mad and all the feelings I can't help but feel when confronted with the fact that we are killing babies that should be living. But this one sentiment kept jumping out at me from the comments: "All the pro-lifers acting as if they're better. You're really just pro-birth because if you cared about LIFE, you would be enriching the lives of people already here. You'd adopt, volunteer, etc. You don't give two shits about those babies that are born and then given to foster families to get raped and beaten. Until you all are actually dong something good for those kids' lives, stfu." "Pro-lifers mainly...
Post a Comment
Read more

I wish I could freeze time

I wish I could freeze time.  I thought it over and over as I lay on the couch with your tiny body curled up on mine, our chests gently rising and falling in unison.  I was sore, exhausted and smelled like spit-up and night sweats, and I knew I should be sleeping, but I wanted to live every part of that moment.  I wanted to breathe in your newborn smell and watch your eyelids flutter as the afternoon sunlight and the muted sounds of spring streamed in through the blinds.  I wanted to lay there with you and forget about the world.  I wish I could freeze time.   I thought it again as we sat on the porch watching a rare summer rain, my arms wrapped tightly around you as the thunder rolled in, and I told you how blessed I was to be your mom.  I thought it the first time you smiled, the first time you giggled and the first time you belly-laughed.   I thought it when Daddy and I laid blankets on the living room floor and spent a Sun...
Post a Comment
Read more