Loved By the One Who Matters Most

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Bridge Gospel Church. I'm really glad that you guys are all here today.
It's been a great week. I guess we're getting some cooler weather, finally, breaking 100 degrees.
I'm very excited about that. I want to go outside and do things very, very much.
I'd like to welcome our first-time guests. Thank you so much for joining us.
I'm really glad you're here, and I hope you really enjoy your time here.
I'd also like to welcome everyone who's joining us online.
We miss you, and I know that God is going to bless you right where you're at.
So before we kind of get going today, we have a few announcements.
First, I think, is the announcement blob. We kind of do this kind of before the beginning of the month.
So we just have some stuff going on throughout the month.
Every Wednesday is at 7 p.m. We have prayer here, and it's a great time.
We pray for the church. We pray for our city. We pray for each other.
We pray for those amongst the church, and so I really, if it's something that you like to do,
if you like to be an intercessor, if you like to just be in the presence,
every Wednesday is different, and it's really fun, and I don't lead it.
Our chaplain, Joyce, she leads it. She's not here today.
She's with somebody in the hospital, but it's really a great, great time.
The other thing we get going is men.
If you're not connected, there's a men's Bible study.
You guys meet over at Panera, right, on Saturdays, and those guys do whatever those guys do.
Have some coffee. Have some fun. Talk to Pastor Tim.
And then finally, we have healing rooms. It's going to be this Thursday.
So if you are dealing with any physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain,
I really recommend you come because what that does is it gives you a time to just soak in the presence of the Lord,
and then you'll have trained people who will pray with you and pray healing over you,
and we've seen some really miraculous things happen.
We've seen, you know, cancer disappear. We've seen back pain disappear.
Arthritis disappear. Just amazing testimonies have come out of healing rooms
because we believe that God is still operating today.
And then the last big announcement is women's.
So if you are not involved in women's ministry or you want to be involved in women's ministry,
it is starting up Tuesday, September 8th, and where it's going to be here,
it's going to have, like, we're going to have a speaker, we're going to have some tables,
we're going to have some time of hanging out and doing cool activities together.
It's once a month, second Tuesday of every month.
And our new women's minister, Michelle, could you just stand?
I'm just going to put you on the spot.
This is our women's minister, Michelle.
She has got, like, this whole thing planned.
Good thing that she's doing it because if I was doing it, we're going off-roading.
Yo, that's my thing.
But she's got the whole women's thing down.
I'm just going to trust her with this one.
And also, we have another big event going on.
This is also extended to women.
It's a class.
It's a class called Fruits.
And if you ever read the Bible, it talks about the fruits of the Spirit.
It is a great class because it talks about developing positive qualities in our life.
It's not the kind of class you're like, oh, let's just dig in and, you know, deal with all your problems.
Not that kind of class, all right?
This is a class that, you know, talks about the things that develop ourselves spiritually, and we do that amongst other women.
So it is open to 12, is that correct, Terry?
12 people.
And sign-up is required because it is limited space.
But you can go ahead and go on our website at bridgegospel.org slash events.
And there's a little sign-up.
It's free.
You don't have to pay for anything.
It's just a class.
It's actually at Terry's house.
She's in the back booth.
So it's not even here at the church.
And I think it's going to be a really edifying class.
It's open to women only.
Guys, you'll have to go talk to Pastor Tim and do some coffee or whatever.
You guys do what you guys do, you know.
And finally, I'm going to pray for the offering.
We don't pass a plate.
We don't pass a bucket.
So if you consider Bridge Gospel your home, you can go ahead and just give online.
Or you can go ahead and just put the offering boxes in the back.
You can just go ahead and put your envelope back there.
Please make checks out to Two Rivers Church.
They are the ones who planted us.
And we don't have our own bank account.
We're still a baby church.
Okay?
So they handle all our finances.
So if you write it out to Bridge Gospel, it doesn't go anywhere.
So Two Rivers Church.
So dear Heavenly Father, God, we just thank you.
And we extend our worship with our tithes and offerings that we believe when we give that we are sowing a seed into the kingdom of God.
And in your name, amen.
So this week, I had to run a bunch of errands and stuff.
And, you know, when I'm up to preach, I don't preach super often.
I kind of have that Monday morning panic of, oh my gosh, what am I going to talk about?
And so as I was sitting at the tire shop waiting for my car to get fixed,
I was reading this story about this individual, this young boy who lived several years ago, many years ago, before my time.
And this little boy, he grew up in this small town.
And like any other normal boy, he wanted to have friends.
He wanted to be a part of something.
But the problem was is he never really seemed to really fit in.
He was very shy.
He was very introverted.
And on top of that, he suffered from asthma and he had other health issues.
And so he was sick quite often.
And that really kept him from really building any strong friendships.
And so he spent most of his childhood inside and he was alone.
And then to make matters worse, he was also overweight.
And if you ever were a kid who was overweight, which I may or may not have experienced that,
the other kids noticed.
They noticed what was going on and they chased him.
They made fun of him.
They even gave him a nickname based on his weight.
And that's devastating to a child.
It was devastating to this little boy.
And he felt like he was the one that didn't fit.
And so he learned very quickly what it was like to be the kid on the outside.
What it was like to have people look at you and judge you before you even knew who you were.
And so he spent a lot of time by himself.
He created these imaginary worlds and these imaginary friends.
He played with toys and puppets and he played the piano.
He tried to find ways to express himself through art.
But it was tough.
He didn't know how to say what he was really feeling.
And unfortunately, those experiences left this deep, deep wound inside of him that he carried with him.
And it really became, it came to set inside of him.
Because when you are told something over and over enough,
when you are overlooked, when you are rejected,
when you are laughed at,
when you are made to feel that somehow you are different than everyone else,
you kind of start wondering,
maybe they're right.
Because let's face it here.
You know, the only common denominator is yourself.
And so everything seems to kind of get traced back to you.
And that makes us ask this question.
What's wrong with me?
What did I do?
Because wherever I go,
I seem to be the problem.
I seem to be the one in the center
that seems to get singled out.
I seem to be the one that's different.
And maybe you feel that now.
You're the outsider at work.
You get mistreated,
or you don't get seen for the things that you do.
Or maybe you feel like you're always competing for attention from a parent.
Or you're being compared to a sibling.
And you just can't seem to measure up to their expectations.
Or maybe a spouse or a former spouse.
You know, where they ignored you,
or they wanted you to deliver something that you couldn't do.
And couldn't be for them.
Or how about this one?
What about a church that made you feel like you belonged at the fringes?
Because you didn't fit their culture.
That can really hurt.
So then what do you do when you've spent so long
trying to gain someone's approval?
And that approval eventually becomes the opinion
that starts shaping the way you see yourself.
So today we're going to be looking at Genesis chapter 29.
And it's a very fun story.
So if you can open your Bibles to Genesis 29.
We're going to specifically talk about a woman
who is kind of ignored,
both in Scripture and kind of in the pulpit as well.
We don't really hear about her much.
See, Leah was a very interesting character
because she had to bear the consequences
of other people and other people's decisions.
See, it began a long time ago
with Israel's father, Abraham.
See, Abraham was a deceiver.
He went and he lied to Pharaoh
and he lied to the Egyptians about his wife.
He said, no, my wife is my sister.
So that way he didn't face death.
And then it continued on.
Abraham's son, Isaac, does the same thing
to the Philistines and to Ambilak.
He says that his wife, Rebecca, again, is his sister
so he doesn't have to get killed by the sword.
And then it passes down to the next generation.
Isaac's son, Jacob, deceives his father
while he's in declining health
and he claims that he is Esau
so he can steal his father's blessing.
You see this pattern of generation to generation.
It's being passed down.
But now Jacob, the son of Isaac,
the son of Abraham,
Jacob is about to get a taste of his own medicine.
See, when he comes into this foreign land,
he encounters this woman, this beautiful woman.
Her name is Rachel.
And he instantly falls in love with her.
And this is what scripture says
in Genesis 29, verse 17 and 18.
It says, Leah had weak eyes,
but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.
Jacob was in love with Rachel and said,
I will work for you seven years
in return for your younger daughter, Rachel.
Now, every culture sees beauty differently.
And in the ancient Semitic culture,
eyes were an indicator of beauty, okay?
In other cultures like Nepal,
it's strong women, right, Diane?
Yeah, big, strong women.
And in other, it's in ancient Europe,
it was how pale you were.
See, this scripture doesn't mean
that Leah was particularly ugly.
It just means that she was not favored by Jacob.
And so Jacob asked for Rachel in marriage
and not Leah.
So Jacob goes ahead.
He works his seven years.
And he's anticipating this marriage.
He's excited.
He's been wanting this woman.
He is in love with her.
She's in love with him.
And the day of the wedding comes.
And Jacob is standing in front of his bride, Rachel.
Except that's not what happens.
The wedding comes and the bride is presented
completely hidden, as was customary at that time.
And imagine his anticipation,
what he was working for all this time.
And it wasn't until, let me repeat this,
it wasn't until the next day
that Jacob realizes that this was not Rachel.
It was Leah.
Okay, mind blown.
How can you, how?
You went, had your wedding,
you did the thing that you do after a wedding, right?
And then you find out the next morning?
That's pretty crazy.
That is pretty crazy.
I mean, Jacob ain't going to judge Judy anymore
for an annulment.
The deal has been done.
So you see this parallel.
Jacob impersonates his brother Esau
to steal a blessing.
And yet Leah's father hides her under this veil
to impersonate her sister.
Both time that recognition came too late.
The deceiver is deceived.
But lo and behold, here's Leah.
And what was the excuse?
Laban, the father, said,
it was customary to admire the oldest first.
Well, possibly.
But this tells us a couple things.
First off, Leah was never given away
in that seven-year period in marriage.
She remained single.
And we don't know why,
whether it was because of her looks,
or because her father was intending to deceive Jacob,
we don't know.
But she was unwanted.
And the second thing we know,
that Leah became the focal point of the deception.
And we don't know if her father was trying to be dishonest
or if Leah was in on this.
But what I do know is back in that time,
the women were subjected to their fathers
and they were subjected to their husbands.
And so they had to do what they were told.
They were under their rules.
So whether she was in on this or not,
she was still subjected to what her father wanted.
But things don't get any better for Leah.
Things actually end up getting worse
because now she is married to this guy
knowing that Jacob favored her sister over her.
So now she's married to a guy that doesn't even like her,
let alone love her.
And then when Jacob goes to Laban and says,
hey, what's going on here?
Where's Rachel?
Laban says this.
He says, I will give you Rachel after the wedding week,
but if you work for me for another seven years.
Imagine that wedding invitation.
You just got through your first one
and boom, you're getting married again.
And then have to work another seven years after.
So now Leah is with Jacob, newly married.
Now her sister entered the picture, also married to him.
Imagine the conflict.
Talk about the beginnings of the desperate housewives of Haran.
Ooh, HBO better be covering that one.
But here's what's amazing.
Despite the drama, despite the tension that must have been going on
in this household, when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved,
he enabled her to become pregnant.
And so what was amazing is there was some sort of resolve.
And here Rachel is childless, but Leah finally could have a child.
So here's our text starting in Genesis 29, verse 31.
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved,
he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless.
So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
She named him Reuben.
For she said, the Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition.
Surely my husband will love me now.
She became pregnant again and had another son.
She said, because the Lord heard that I was unloved,
he gave me this one too.
So she named him Simeon.
She became pregnant again and had another son.
She said, now this time my husband will show me affection,
because I have given birth to three sons for him.
And that is why he is named Levi.
She became pregnant again and had another son.
She said, this time I will praise the Lord.
That is why she named him Judah.
Then she stopped having children.
See, up until this point, everybody has been looking at Leah
and giving her an identity.
But this is the first time that Scripture begins to see Leah
in the way God sees her.
It begins, God saw that Leah was unloved.
Folks, Leah's pain wasn't insignificant.
It was deeply rooted.
It was real.
It was here.
It was on her.
It was in her.
It was through her.
And so saying, oh, don't worry about it.
You'll be fine.
Or, you know, ignore it.
Move on.
Those words weren't going to work in this situation.
Because the pain was too real.
She was living it every second of her life.
It wasn't a remedy.
The pain was her reality.
That she lived in every single moment.
However, despite her pain, despite her situation,
and that she had little to no control over,
because these women, they were subjected to their husbands.
They were subjected to their fathers.
She was still seen by the Lord.
And through that pain came some relief.
Leah became pregnant with a son.
And that is something that really carried a lot of value in the family
because sons meant that the family line was going to continue.
That meant a lot to the husband.
It meant that he had an heir.
And Leah knows that God saw her.
She immediately credited God for that birth of her first son.
But yet, she was still greatly pained for her husband's affection.
See, her first son, Reuben, the meaning of the name Reuben means,
see a son.
And through Reuben, she was hoping that her husband would finally see her.
For once, she did something to please her husband.
She did something that was valuable to him.
But her situation didn't change.
And then again, Leah becomes pregnant and bears another son.
She names him Simeon, which means hearing.
For the Lord heard her in her oppression.
But her situation doesn't change.
And then again, Leah becomes pregnant and bears yet another son.
Three sons.
And Levi's name means attachment.
And now, Leah hoped,
my husband will become attached to me
because I gave him three sons.
And my sister has bore him none.
But her situation didn't change.
And finally, for a fourth time,
she bears yet another son.
Now, her situation doesn't change,
but something else changes in her.
There's a shift.
It's the first time Leah starts looking upward instead of outward.
It's no longer about her husband changing.
It's now, it's about her attention turning to God.
This time, I will praise the Lord, she says.
So she named her son Judah,
meaning whom God has praised.
And she praised God
instead of trying to catch her husband's attention.
And then she stopped having children,
at least for a time.
So, the brokenness of others may shape your pain,
but it does not get to shape the way God sees you.
Your brokenness of others may shape your pain,
but it does not get to shape the way God sees you.
See, Leah's circumstances were a disaster.
And it was mainly created by other people.
And it was created by their dysfunction.
It was created by their brokenness.
She was in the center of it.
Laban deceived Jacob.
Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah.
And Rachel was brought into this marriage
almost immediately,
and then Leah is left stuck inside a situation
she didn't create,
and that she just can't simply walk away from.
She can't leave.
She was stuck.
But then something remarkable happens.
In the middle of all that brokenness,
Judah is born.
The dysfunction was real.
The pain was real.
But neither of those things prevent God from working.
See, that brokenness surrounding Leah
shaped her existence,
but it did not have authority
over what God was going to do through her.
And if you're feeling trapped in your own circumstances,
like Leah,
you didn't create it,
you didn't want it,
but here you are,
and you can't walk away from it.
But here's the truth.
You can be stuck in a situation
without God being stuck in that same situation.
And we know God wasn't stuck in that situation.
We know because of Judah.
I mean, look at the family that God chose.
He started with Abraham,
who was a deceiver,
who was the father of Isaac,
who was a deceiver,
who was the father of Jacob,
who was a deceiver,
and honestly a terrible husband.
And then further down,
we have,
down the lineage,
we have Jesse,
who ignored his youngest son.
And then we have,
who was the father of David,
who murdered and committed adultery.
And then who was the father of all these kings
that led Israel into exile,
which eventually fathered Joseph,
which eventually fathered Jesus.
Our Messiah.
And again and again,
human beings make a mess of things.
They keep messing things up.
Yet, God's covenant promises
continue to prevail.
Amen?
And you would think at some point,
this dysfunctional family,
that they would have finally wrecked
the promise of God.
And that's what makes Matthew 1 so striking.
See, Matthew,
as he is listing the genealogy,
he doesn't hide the mess.
He doesn't hide the fact
that this whole family lineage
to Jesus wasn't dysfunctional.
They were incredibly dysfunctional.
And that's why the genealogy is really there.
It is to bring glory to God.
It is not for us to just gloss over.
It was to point out
that these people were messed up.
And we can often assume
that dysfunction disqualifies people,
disqualifies families,
disqualifies churches,
or situations from being used by God.
And then when we're in the middle
of this situation,
we can disqualify ourselves.
Because, in reality,
broken does not mean disqualified.
And this is what makes Leah's story
even more remarkable.
Leah can't see where God is going.
She doesn't understand
the significance of Judah.
From her perspective,
it's just her fourth son.
But from our perspective,
as we see the Bible being laid out,
we know where Judah leads.
But because of Judah,
that is the meaning
from whom God promised.
He foreshadowed what was to come.
Because that thing to come
was Jesus.
The same Jesus
that's going to save humanity
from now and from forever.
Amen?
See, we judge the present
because we can't see
the future significance
of what God is doing.
And that's where some of us live.
We look at what's in front of us
and think,
that's it?
That's what God's doing?
We can only see the pain.
We can only see
the ordinary moment
that we're in.
The thing doesn't look
significant yet.
And because it's easy
to miss the big picture,
when all we feel
is that immediate pain.
You see,
Leah saw her fourth son.
She couldn't see David.
She couldn't see the kings.
And she certainly
did not see Jesus,
the Messiah.
All she could see
was that little child
in her arms.
Yet God could see
the generations to come.
You know,
so many times
we just want to fix
the person.
We want to fix
the situation.
We want the problem
to go away.
But God doesn't always
work that way.
And it's so frustrating
because that's not
what we want.
Because if we sit
and continue to read
what Leah's story
in the following chapter,
we realize that God
does not fix
her situation.
She doesn't,
he doesn't take away
her pain.
She continues to suffer
under this terrible
situation that she's in.
She's still under
her husband.
She's still under
the conflict
with her sister.
and she's under
this long-withstanding
dysfunctional family
that, by the way,
happened to be chosen
by God.
Isn't it so much
harder to endure
pain when you know
that the other person
loves God as much
as you do?
It makes it
doubly more difficult
because they go
to church like you.
They say
all the right things.
They do all the right
things until you get
home, until you're
alone with them,
and you see a
different person
that no one else
sees.
And here we are.
We ask,
God, fix them.
Please.
Don't you see the pain
that they're causing
me?
Don't you understand
what they're doing
to me?
Don't you see me?
But God
doesn't always
do that.
He doesn't
always fix our
situation.
He doesn't
always change
that other person.
He doesn't
always get rid
of that
dysfunction.
But instead,
He asks for
our hearts.
Just like He
asked for Leah's
heart.
Scripture says,
and Matthew says,
whoever does not
take up his cross
and follow me is
not worthy of me.
You see,
the cross was a
Roman torture device.
You know,
we wear these
things around our
neck.
We have them
in our house.
Some people have
them tattooed on
them.
But it was a
torture device.
It represented
pain and persecution
and punishment.
And Jesus is
calling us to
take up our
cross.
And that means
following Jesus
is not comfortable.
It involves
painful situations
that we don't
want to endure.
And sometimes
faithfulness means
enduring something
that we can't
immediately change.
Now,
taking up your
cross doesn't
mean that you
stay in danger.
It doesn't mean
that you endure
abuse.
I want to make
that very clear.
But it does mean
that you may have
to endure some
pain for the
sake of your
Lord.
And your pain
may not be
persecution from
a hostile
environment that
doesn't accept
Christ.
But your pain
may be enduring
actions and
dysfunction from
another person who
loves God as much
as you do.
that's rough.
I don't know what
do we do with
that.
Because if I
can't make them
change, if you
can't make them
change, we have
another decision to
make.
Am I going to let
what they think of
me become who I
am?
Let's go back to
that story.
That little boy
who was continually
ridiculed, who was
continually made fun
of, who was the
object of mockery.
That boy carried so
much pain, it just
caused him to
retreat in that
loneliness and try
to find a place of
escape.
You know who that
young boy was?
It was Fred Rogers,
who eventually hosted
a TV show that
lasted for 33 years.
And if you're my age
or older, you've
probably watched
Mr. Rogers'
Neighborhood, yes?
Most of you, yes,
all of you.
And even though I
have not watched
that episode in
decades, I still
carry those lessons
that I learned.
And it really was a
message about identity.
It wasn't about the
opinion of the other
people surrounding,
who were surrounding
me, surrounding you.
That I was created
for a purpose and it
didn't require me to
look a certain way and
act a certain way.
And so, as a result,
it has caused me in my
adulthood to seek
people, to see people,
to let them know I'm
thinking about them.
Now, I'm not perfect
at it.
I mess up.
But I am aware that
there is more to a
person than the layers
of pain that they are
carrying.
That there's a real
person underneath all
that pain.
Now, Fred Rogers can
teach us something about
identity, but Jesus is
the one who actually
gives us that identity.
Because Jesus knows
how you feel on a
personal level.
That's why we have a
personal, loving God
who gets it.
See, Jacob's assessment
of Leah doesn't determine
what God did through
Leah.
Laban's explanation of
Leah didn't determine
what God did through
Leah.
Even Leah's own
brokenness didn't
determine what God was
doing through her.
because human
brokenness repeatedly
threatens the promise,
yet God keeps carrying
that promise through
human brokenness, and
it always arrives at
Jesus, yes?
Now, I'm not here to
minimize anybody's pain.
I recognize that it's
real.
And it may be heavy.
And it may be weighing
down on you.
Because nowhere in
Scripture do we see
Leah's pain resolved.
The pain remained.
But that pain doesn't
define any of you.
It doesn't define me.
Because sometimes that
deepest pain comes from
the people that we love
the most.
People that we're
connected to.
People whose words carry
that weight on our lives.
And when they withhold
love, and when they
withhold recognition,
when they withhold
acceptance, it hurts
because those things
matter.
This isn't a perfect
world.
And that's why we need
more than just a perfect
situation.
We need a perfect Savior.
Because Jesus knows our
rejection.
Because he was
misunderstood.
He was dismissed.
He was abandoned.
Even his own
disciples, his closest
companions, left him
as he was being
crucified.
Denying even knowing
him.
And not even recognizing
who he truly was.
And yet, their
rejection never changed
who Jesus was.
He was still the
Messiah.
He was still the
Savior.
And the rejection
of people would not
stop the purpose of
God.
Jesus still carried out
his mission even
amongst all that
rejection.
See, the cross
looked like rejection
had won, but the
resurrection proved
that wrong.
Yes?
Amen?
Because if your
identity is found in
Christ, that means
rejection of someone
else doesn't get the
final say over you.
because you are loved
by the one who
matters most.
So now what?
What do we do with
this?
These are all nice
things to say.
Because the truth is,
some of you have
spent years trying to
get someone to see you
differently.
To try to love you
differently.
To treat you
differently.
To finally recognize
your value.
And today, maybe
it's time to stop
giving that the
final word.
That that opinion
no longer matters
or holds value in
your life.
Because if you're
allowed to have
someone else's
rejection define you
today, I want you
to surrender that to
Jesus.
Because they may
never change.
The situation may
never change, but
their rejection does
not have to tell you
who you are.
because you are
loved by the one
who matters most.
And maybe you're
here and you've
never surrendered
your life to Jesus.
You've spent your
life trying to find
your value through
your job or through
your family or through
the things that you
do.
But it doesn't have
to be like that
today.
He's inviting you
today to be in your
presence.
So whether you need
to surrender something
in your life, if you
need to surrender some
pain and rejection in
your life today, or
whether you need to
meet Jesus for the
first time, I invite
you to come up after
service.
Because today you
don't have to walk
out these doors feeling
that pain of rejection
and feeling that your
identity is determined
by somebody else.
It doesn't have to be
like that today.
You can be walk out
changed.
I'm not saying the
pain is going to go
away.
I'm not saying your
situation is going to
change, but the one
that you praise can be
the one who changes.
So just a moment, I'm
going to invite the
prayer team up, and
we're going to pray
over you.
And so I just want
everybody to bow
their heads, close
their eyes, and I'm
just going to ask the
Holy Spirit just to
come and speak into
every one of you to
reveal if there's any
pain in your heart, if
there's any rejection in
your heart that you
need to deal with, that
you need to give to
Jesus.
Dear Heavenly
Father, you are the
one that gives us our
identity.
You are the one that
determines the value of
our life.
And as we're in our
situations throughout the
week, whether good or
bad, whether difficult or
easy, Lord, you have a
purpose for every moment,
every breath.
And we may not see it, we
may not feel it, and we
may not know what is
coming, but Lord, I
trust that you do, that
you know where this is
going, that you know the
path.
And Lord, we may only see
the few steps in front of
us, Lord, but God, you
see the entire path, that
it goes well beyond us to
the next generation, to the
next generation.
And God, where there is
pain, Lord, I just ask that
it is given to you, that you
will bear that yoke, that
that pain was something that
we were never, ever supposed
to carry.
And Lord, we just trust you
with that pain, with that
identity that is not from
you, and we give it to you.
Because you are perfect.
Because you understand.
And you are a God who is
loving, caring, and kind.
And Lord, I just ask a
blessing over everyone who
is here today.
Just protect them, make sure
that they know that they are
loved,