I can hardly watch the news anymore. I’ve turned the notifications off on my phone and started limiting my time on social media. Everywhere I turn, the headlines are riddled with pain.
The conflict.
Sadness.
Anger.
Violence.
Despair.
It’s all just too much.
As your mama, when my heart is shattered by the news I hear, the first thing that comes to mind is always you.
You, giggling in the next room as you build a tower out of LEGOs.
You, sleeping peacefully unaware in your warm bed at night.
You, in your bright-eyed innocence.
You, my precious babies.
And oh, how my heart longs to protect you. I’d give anything to keep you like this—sheltered, safe, and unjaded by the heaviness of the world.
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You’re getting to that age where questions abound. Everything is why, why why? When you overhear an adult conversation or see an unsettling photo on the front page of the newspaper, I can see your wheels start to turn. You want to have it all figured out—you want clarity on the confusing parts.
But can I tell you the truth? There’s so much I don’t understand, either. So much I don’t think any of us will ever understand this side of Heaven.
I won’t pretend to have all of the answers or even very many of them at all.
But I can promise you this: When the outside world feels broken, I’ll do my best to keep yours whole.
It’s why we share dinner around the table every single night. We want you to feel our presence. Our togetherness.
It’s why we do our best to teach you strong morals and values. We want you to grow into strong adults who are firm in your character even when you’re bombarded by mixed messages.
It’s why we spend as much time as a family as we possibly can. It’s so important to your daddy and me that you feel our love. We need you to trust that when things out there get hard, you can always count on us.
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This life is uncertain, but I’ll do all that I can to give you a childhood free from worry and fear. I can’t keep you here under my wing forever—I know this. Even if I could, it wouldn’t be the best thing for you. But for now, you deserve to soak in the joy of being a kid and I will shoulder the burden of the world for you as you grow.
When you have questions about things you see and hear—when you just don’t understand—I will sit with you in your confusion and pain.
We can’t fix the world, my loves. There’s no magic wand to make all the hurt disappear (how I wish there was).
But in the depths of my heart, I truly believe we can change it—little by little, choice by choice.
We can be kind to strangers. We can hold open doors and bake the new neighbor cookies and sit with our hurting friends. We can say please and thank you and smile at the people we pass.
We can make the effort to set aside our humanness and meet others with compassion and grace—the same compassion and grace we all too often need ourselves.
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We can bring beauty and light to our corners of the world, and I’ll do my best to teach you how.
I will lead you as boldly as I can, even if I’m secretly scared to death of the uncertainty that surrounds us.
I’m not perfect, but I’ll never stop trying to make our home peaceful and secure when everything else turns to chaos.
I am your mama—and when the world feels broken, I promise to be your safe place.