Caked-up in Make-up

Does anyone else think its interesting that we usually don't do any "labor" on Labor Day? I guess I did labor a little bit when i put coals in the grill, so my family could have our annual Labor Day cookout, but for the most part....I was Labor-free. My mom on the other hand didn't have to go into work today because it was Labor day, but she still labored over my laundry (I love my momma!)

This Labor Day weekend I went home to watch my little brother's high school football game and hang out with my parents. It was a great weekend! My little brother scored a touchdown, but he also separated his shoulder twice in the game so he will be out of football for a couple of weeks. Also, when I got home I found out that one of our neighbors had mysteriously left. A couple days before I got home, I guess a huge moving van and policemen were at her house making sure she left unharmed. My family was clueless as to what was happening, but we got a letter the next day in the mail detailing the situation.

Inside the letter contained 3 pictures of this lady. She had a cut underneath her eye running down to the corner of her mouth. Her bottom lip was swollen and was bruised black and purple. It appeared that her nose had been broken in several places, and blood was stained all over her white shirt. Besides the 3 pictures, a two-paged letter was included describing an incident that happened between her and her husband. The letter was addressed to her husband, and it was a "Good-Bye" letter. Strewn through the entire letter were four-letter-words, and her attempts at telling him how much she loved him. She was leaving him because he was a drunk. One night he came home drunk as usual and sat down in his recliner, and he began to get even more plastered. A fight broke out between them, and he ends up smashing her face with a vase.

As I read this letter, my heart broke. I couldn't put into words what my heart was feeling...I have had several days to think about the letter and the pictures and my neighbors. I still can't quite explain the feeling of brokenness I have for them. But to be perfectly honest, I didn't know them that well. I guess you could say my heart broke not just for my neighbors for all of those people in the world who are afflicted by the weight and crap of this world.

Going to school at Ozark Christian College, I am in a perfect-Christian-bubble. Everything is rainbows and butterflies. I'm getting ready to graduate in a year, and I think my view of the world has been distorted. Don't get me wrong...I know the world is messed up, but I haven't had something so disgusting and messed-up hit so close to me. My world is caked-up in make-up. Everything is so pretty, and there are no blemishes. But the world outside of my pretty little perfect bubble is not pretty. Its real. It is hurting.

This time next year I am not sure what I'll be doing, but I know that I will be in a world that isn't masked with Bible College Classes, small groups, youth groups, and 20 guys on a dorm floor that will do anything for me. I'll see the "real" world and what she really looks like. I just got a piece of it in a couple of pictures and a letter. I guess my purpose in writing this is just to ask you if your world is covered in make-up?