Life Matters.

The Casey Anthony case has intrigued me.

I'm sure it's intrigued a lot of people. How a mother of a lovely little girl could kill their daughter simply because they didn't want the responsibility anymore is beyond me. Like everyone else, I want justice for that poor little girl. Every time they show her face on television, it breaks my heart to think the person who should of loved her the most, treated her the worst.

But in the process of the media spectacle of the trial, I'm reminded how fragile life truly is. One minute you're breathing, the next you could be gone. The moment you take the last breath, you're the sum of all your decisions here on earth. That poor little girl didn't have a chance to build a life for herself. She didn't get a chance to laugh and cry and grow and learn. Her own mother murdered her.

In doing so, her mother took her own child's life and shattered the lives of her family. Not only is that the case but she ruined her own life. Simply put, she made the worst possible decision. And now she'll most likely spend the rest of her life in jail, if she isn't put to death because of her despicable act. Casey Anthony didn't respect her life or the life of others.

Now that little girl is only remembered to us in photographs, to her family in memories. Casey Anthony will never have a chance to raise a child or turn her life around and do something great with her God-given potential. Life is fragile.

That's something I've confronted in my own life. When my grand parents died in 2009, it brought issues to the surface I was never faced with. Some day I'll die from this earth and when I do I'll be the sum of all of my decisions. Good or bad, wrong or right. I'll be accountable to my actions and I won't have the excuse of little Caylee Anthony--I had the chance to turn things around, I had a life to make something of. 

I don't want to waste my life. Don't want to waste my God-given potential. Don't want to focus on a life of chasing things that don't really matter while missing out on all the things that really should matter. I have a chance that individuals like Caylee never had. My life is fragile but I'm still here.

I'm so thankful for a renewed spirit, I'm motivated by the potential I have, I'm comforted that I don't have to do life alone anymore. I don't want to waste my life. I don't want my fragile life to come to end and realize I'm no better than Casey Anthony (who wasted her potential) or no more accomplished than Caylee Anthony (who didn't even have a chance to accomplish).

Today I was baptized. I'm confident my grand parents were celebrating some where far away from here but not distant from my heart. I'm thankful my best friend and my family were there to celebrate with me. And my heart is ripped apart by a God who is so loving and merciful, that would give second chances to the undeserving like me. 

Life matters. God, help me to not waste it.