Aching Heart

As I sit here tonight briefly scrolling through Facebook, scouring for whatever good news or cute pictures will bring a smile to my face, my heart aches so incredibly much. My heart aches for people of color, for police officers of good heart, for the families of all of these people. My heart aches for parents who are having really tough conversations with their young kids right now. My heart aches for the business and store owners who are cleaning or repairing their livelihoods in these incredibly challenging times. 

I will be the first to admit I have not thoroughly researched the current situation in our world. I will also *sheepishly* admit that I preach to my 4-H youth that they should be educated on things before forming an opinion. However, I feel like what is happening now takes just a bit of heart to understand and be educated on. I am listening, observing, and feeling.

If you look through social media you'll see things that say "Black Lives Matter." Or you'll see things that say "All lives matter" with angry comments about it not being all lives, but specifically black lives. While I understand this mentality, I also don't understand it completely. Black lives DO matter, just as brown lives, and tan lives, and white lives. Because yes, we matter too. How much a person "matters" shouldn't be determined by the color of their skin. All people matter. People with down syndrome matter. People with ADD or ADHD matter. People with dark skin matter. People with light skin matter. People with blond hair matter. People with brown hair, or red hair, matter too. I don't care what you look like, you matter.

I took this picture today on my way off campus. I wanted to post it with a quote, and in looking for quotes I found this one: "Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds." I thought it was incredibly fitting not only for the picture, but for today's world too. I challenge you to grow flowers and not weeds in your garden.