My heart breaks for the mother. And the father. And the brother who have lost their son and brother...and their son and brother...and their son and brother. 

It seems unspeakable--unbelievable--that a mother can bear four sons. And rear four sons. And lose three sons while they're young.

And how, as a brother, can you watch one brother die. And then another. Then feel some sense of a new normal when the other is suddenly ripped from life. How do you then, as the remaining brother, rejoice? Rejoice knowing that the three are forever gone from earth, yet are celebrating, and laughing, and dancing with God? How do you eat, and sleep, and breathe? Does life feel like death is coming for you next?

For this mother, and father, and brother Lord, grant the next breath...and the next breath. The next step...and the next step. The next heart beat and mending. As the heart beats, may grace palpitate through their soul.

Heart beat. Breath. Grace. Step. 

Heart beat. Breath. Grace. Step. 

--

My prayers are with the Phillips family who have lost far more than anybody should ever have to bear. 

#Awareness

I constantly see it...posts on social media complaining about the different social media/celebrity efforts to bring awareness to certain current events and social injustices. People constantly complaining that “your hashtag isn’t really doing anything to help anybody.” Or “I’m tired of seeing people jump on a bandwagon and not really care to do anything else about the issue.”

While there are certainly people who jump on the latest hashtag/awareness trend, the efforts of raising awareness are certainly not frivolous. Without awareness, there many different campaigns, organizations, and movements that would have a hard time furthering whatever it is they are doing.

Without awareness, the fight against human trafficking and slavery--for example--would be at least a few steps behind where it is now. Because people in the US have been made aware about the continuing existence of slavery and trafficking abroad and at home, they have gone on to fight this evil. Working in outreaches in strip clubs and the street. Visiting and making calls to local representatives in order to fight with the government against modern slavery, and more. These things, in many cases, would not be happening (or would be extremely slow in happening) were it not for the various hashtags and other awareness campaigns making the rounds on social media.

Yes, we cannot simply stop at the awareness piece. And yes, these hashtag awareness campaigns are not actually going in and physically rescuing or feeding or physically fighting for someone, but they are fighting for a light to be shone on something so that others who are equipped to rescue, feed, and fight can do so. And that’s an extremely important piece to the puzzle in fighting injustices.

Societies Perception of Beauty (Pt. 1)

It never fails, whenever I click on one of those ever-present links on Facebook--you know, the ones about "13 Secrets from *blank* movie" (or other random hooks like that)--there is always another type of article linked on the side. Articles about the "ugly-duckling child stars that turned into hotties." Or, articles about seeing which "hot star this child turned into."

It's just another aspect of our societies warped views on beauty. Why does a child *need* to be physically beautiful/good looking? They're a child for goodness sake. They're meant to be playing with their friends, and reading, and imagining magical and adventurous worlds. 

Our society is so focused on outer beauty, that it is seeping into younger and younger age brackets.  (Following statistics from ANAD--Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders)

• 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures

• 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape
• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner 
• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat 

Young girls are seeing these articles...seeing the importance that is, years later, being placed on a celebrities outer beauty while young. Young girls are feeling the need to focus on their outer beauty sooner, because, if these beautiful celebrities are being called "ugly ducklings" as children, then young girls are susceptible to being held up to the same standards of beauty. It's not fair. It's not healthy. And it's robbing children of the right to their childhood.