I was in the back yard working in my garden. Grace was beside me throwing a fit because she wanted to go for a walk instead. Then a van pulled into the parking lot close to our house.
It was a couple from the neighborhood who I’ve seen/heard fighting often. This fight was no different. My daughter stood staring as they screamed at each other. F-this! F-that! God-d here & there.
Grace just stared.
“Hey!” I shouted, “Watch your language! I’ve got a 1 and half year old over here!”
They significantly lowered their voices and moved further away from my house. I was thankful, until I could hear the woman going at it again.
“I can still HEAR you!” I yelled at her.
And that was when she screamed at me, “F#@K YOU, B$&@#!”
Great.
That’s nice.
I was just about to call the cops when another woman came outside and told them they needed to get out of her parking lot. They left.
I was left shaken.
I don’t hear language like that very often. When I do, it certainly isn’t being directed at me!
I started crying. Not because my feelings were hurt, but because…
This is an ugly world and no matter how hard I try, I can’t protect my daughter from that.
Earthquakes & Tsunamies
Rape & Abuse
Poverty & Hunger
Cancer & War
Liars, Bullies & Broken Hearts
I can try to protect my daughter from all of this for as long as possible, but I can’t protect her forever. Apparently, I can’t even protect her from the ugliness in my own back yard.
Fast forward a couple of days and I’m walking into church…
A song is playing that touches my heart in a deep, deep way. The chorus says:
No weeping no hurt or pain
No suffering You hold me now
You hold me now
No darkness no sick or lame
No hiding You hold me now
You hold me now
And that is when I remember and rejoice that this is our temporary home. This is an ugly world, but it isn’t my forever. Better things are waiting for me. I start crying again, but this time it is tears of joy.
Thank you, God, for the sacrifice that you made this Easter weekend so that I could be saved from this ugly world. You hold me now…
(If you are reading this post in your email or blog reader, you may need to click over to the actual site to watch the video above.)
AMEN. We are here on this Earth, but we have the bigger picture of eternity and what await us. The Bible tells us we are strangers in this land…we don’t fit-in. Some days that’s more apparent than others, unfortunately and we are in situations that hurt or make us very uncomfortable. I thank God that my daughter-in-law has an eternal perspective and is raising my grandaughter in God’s ways. Thanks for this beautiful reminder, Rebakah on this special Easter day! I love you!
I love you too, Anita! Thanks for such a beautiful reply to my post!
Great Post! I like that you confronted them instead of just letting it slide. We cannot control what others do but we can ask them to act differently.
God is our Hope! 🙂
Thanks, Josiah. The experience was pretty uncomfortable, but I was left with a renewed sense of God’s goodness. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your story and the song – I haven’t heard that one before and it’s a good one!
“This is an ugly world and no matter how hard I try, I can’t protect my daughter from that.”
I love your love for your daughter, and I also think that is a reflection of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. He truly wants the best for us and to save us from this world. Isn’t it so amazing that we can trust and praise Him that He has not left us here alone, and that He does have something so much greater in store for us?
Emily, I don’t know how I would function with out the hope of Christ. We truly are blessed by such great love.
I really felt you on this post. As a social worker, I see alot of kids innocents gone at the age of 3 and 4. It’s so sad to hear the use words they say, those same words that I feel bad when I think about them. When I get a glimpse of those incidents that you experienced I get sad as well to know that we need Jesus more now than ever before. Thanks for the reminder that this isn’t our home and it’s only temporary. Thanks for taking a stand and saying something.
Melissa, it sounds like you have a hard job, but thank you for doing it! We need people like you to help make this world a little less ugly.
The first time my child heard this word, it was from another child. A five year old child. Cut me off at the knees. We are too often thoughtless in our words and actions, and it is such a huge, huge shame. The glory of it all is that our children have such capacity for seeing the big picture, for reflecting the beauty. They don’t fixate on the ugly spots like we do. I love that. (Great post.)
Thank you so much! I can’t imagine my 5 year old saying something like that. I guess we just have to do the best we can in our own homes and hope they’ll find their way back to God’s truth when they are walking on their own in the world.
This has been on my mind a lot lately. This morning, there were some teenagers running through the halls at church yelling the F bomb in the Sunday School rooms. Just last week, our ipod was stolen out of our car – with a cop living across the street. I am so thankful this is not our home.
Whoa! Using the f-word in church?!!? Geez, Audra! Well, I guess those needs were just where they needed to be.
thank you for the post reminding me that this is only a temporary place and that our real home with God awaits us. My mother just recently passed away and i have been having a very difficult time missing her so very much. My focus should be on when i will spend eternity with her and our dear Lord, not on the very short time our paths crossed her on this temporary plane. Thanks for reminding me Rebekah. Peace and Love.
John, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. It is so hard to say good bye even if we are confident that we’ll be reunited in heaven. God bless you as learn how to walk through life with out your mother.
Thanks for the reminder of what’s to come.
It is an ugly world, but you confronting it and showing your daughter that it’s not okay to act like they were, is a huge teaching moment and you used it well. Thanks for the reminder that God is good all the time.
Thank you for your encouragement, Terri. I can still get worked up when I remember that day, but as you said…. God is good!