Just a few short weeks before my grandfather's death, in a vulnerable moment of real discouragement, he asked me, "Really – in a hundred years, who will know or care?"
When our earthly selves have returned unto the dust from whence we came… will anything in this life have truly mattered?
I think, for the most part, Grandpa didn't actually believe that statement. I don't think he actually believed the "all is meaningless" sentiment behind the question – but I do think he was voicing a very real feeling that can sometimes gnaw away at any of us, including the writer of Ecclesiastes himself, who echoed: "For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow?" (Ecc. 6:12).
When everything is done and dusted, when the dust finally settles… when our earthly selves have returned unto the dust from whence we came… will anything in this life have truly mattered?
Little Caleb, my little brother, Joshua, and Grandpa, all playing in a wagon of freshly combined corn, nearly 25 years ago
Celebrating one of Grandpa's last birthdays on this earth, not that many years ago.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Turns out, my grandfather wasn't alone in voicing that question in that moment. It's a question that has been voiced by many… by Job (Job 14:1-2), by the Psalmist (Psalm 39:4-5), and by philosophers, scientists, and theologians for centuries. Even Nietzsche once said that with a "why", a man can bear any "how"… but finding the "why"…now that's the rub.
But if I could go back and do it all over again, I'd have a different answer.
In a hundred years, what will any of this have mattered? That right there is the voice that questions our "why".
Why does any of this life on earth really matter?
I really wish I could say that in the moment that my Grandfather had voiced his fear, I had told him the answer that King David had found. But I didn't – instead, I pointed out his family, the incredible work he had done with his life, and the promise that the warm spring ahead held.
But if I could go back and do it all over again, I'd have a different answer.
I'd have David's answer.
This little children's book is written in delightful whimsical free verse!
Each artwork in this book contains a hidden Bible verse, reinforcing the gospel truths told in the poetry.
When David wondered why any of us – mere specks of dust in the massiveness of the universe – matter at all, this is what he says with all assurance:
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:3-9
Why do we matter? Why does anything matter? The answer is really quite simple — and really quite profound. We matter, because we were created specifically and uniquely by God.
We exist, we draw every breath, because God created us, in His image, to bear His glory in His marvellous creation. The very existence of our humanity, our physicality, is testimony to His glory, power, and might…and that is the ultimate "why".
How I wished I had turned to Grandpa and said:
That's why, among all the atoms of matter… you matter."
"The incomprehensibleness of it all is that, in an infinite universe of time and space that is expanding at the speed of light, strewn with countless stars of incomprehensible size, you do matter, because God made you. God cares for you.
That's why, among all the atoms of matter …. you matter."
That's why all of us, and all that we do, matters now, and why our legacies will matter in a hundred years… because this glorious, marvellous, incredible universe is a story that each one of us has specifically been made part of… by very God Himself.
And that is an answer I want to get right in the future, the next time someone asks me.
And maybe the next time, it won't be someone from the generation that's gone before me, asking me in a moment of doubt…maybe next time it will be the generation coming behind, asking me in wide-eyed curiosity and wonderment.
Our little gift to our little one!
For the last 8 months, God has been fearfully and wonderfully creating a precious baby that my wife, Melba, and I anticipate welcoming home mid-July, Lord willing. We are so incredibly blessed to be able to bring this baby into the story God is working for His purposes and glory, and we could not be happier or absolutely more grateful!
And, for the last two years, Melba and I have also been working to create our own little testament to God's glory. We truly believe in the importance of this message, this story, that each of us exists purely to bring God glory and honor and joy and delight.
And that's a story worth celebrating, with every generation, both young and old, and so we created, with our incredibly talented sister-in-law, Aurora McGee Voskamp, a little children's book that celebrates counting down ten of God's countless wonders and blessings, culminating with the miraculous wonder that God Made Only One You.
How every book comes wrapped to your doorstep!
(If you would like to join us, we'd love to slip a storybook in the mail for you and yours)
This is a story that I deeply wish my Grandfather could read to his great-grand baby, a story that celebrates the ultimate why of why we matter — that takes the very deepest joy in counting the gifts God has given us — and how the best one of those gifts is that we each are specifically, beautifully, uniquely designed and created by a God who cares for us, loves us, and has woven together all of time and history and all matter as a gift for us.
Sometimes we need to tell the story, and tell it again, of how every single one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made, breathing breath given by the Creator of the Universe, the same breath that breathed the stars and galaxies into existence.
Our lives always matter simply because God made all matter and what He makes always has worth and matters.
Our lives matter because though our days may be fleeting, your each and every heartbeat is orchestrated in His-story.
Our lives matter because you are treasured beyond measure—God, who is beyond all time and space, has loved you since He whispered you into being in time and space and now.
And sometimes, on the days of deep discouragement and overwhelm, we need a gentle reminder of the why of our being here. Sometimes we need a whimsical lyrical resounding of the astounding, ground shaking reason that we exist. We need the very real assurance that from the very beginning, till now, to a hundred years from now, till beyond the end of time itself, God cares for and loves us beyond our wildest imaginings.
Sometimes we need to tell the story, and tell it again, of how every single one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made, breathing breath given by the Creator of the Universe, the same breath that breathed the stars and galaxies into existence.
For in the vast, astounding, incomprehensible expanse of this incredible universe that God created, even though we are unimaginably tiny compared to the oceans, continents, planets, stars, and galaxies that He spun into being, we are created in His image, for His glory, because He saw fit to form us, shape us, love us, and cherish us —
and that's why all of this more than matters.
Blown away by early readers who have held the first copies in hand, like Christine Caine:
"God Made Only You should be given to every child to celebrate their God given uniqueness. This is the most beautiful children's book I've read. Give a copy to every child you know."
– Christine Caine, Founder A21 & Propel Women
"God Made Only One You," is our gift to the next generation, one of the very best ways we know how to begin celebrating with all the little precious souls coming into this world, to live in awe of God's majesty, His glorious creation, and His abounding, unfailing love and purpose for us.
And we can't wait to share this story with you! "God Made Only One You" is now available for pre-order in our little shop and also on Amazon, can also be a gift to you, and any (or all!) of the precious little souls in your life who could be delighted and astonished at the promise of being God's child.
– Caleb and Melba… plus one more little God-made soul, very soon!