Sunday, December 19, 2010

Help Me Understand, Please

You know in a previous post, I was talking about helping someone less fortunate this year. I'm so sad because there's so many people who need help because of circumstances going on these days.

I read somewhere (in a submarine wives forum I belong to) that the angel trees they have this time of year, people are quick to grab the young kids, but teenagers get overlooked quite a bit. While I know that things can happen in a child's life that will scar them forever...teenagers can hurt just as badly and maybe even deeper. The more I thought about it, the more I want to help a teenager.

You want to get sad? Let me tell you about Paige's life. She has friends (yes, there is an "s" as in plural on the end of that word.) at her school that have been kicked out of their homes...many for different reasons. Kicked out of their homes. Now, I don't know what happened for their lives to get to that point, but I'm here to tell you that no child of mine is going ANYWHERE until I've got them grown to at least the age 18. Even if I have t'beat their butts on occasion. (For those who don't believe in corporal punishment? Live your way and I'll live mine. Georgia law states I can spank my kids and you can be assured I will do so if the need arises.) I'm not saying these are bad kids. They could have bad parents. Now THAT makes me livid. There is no excuse (in my book) for bad parenting. You can make parenting mistakes and you can wish you handled a situation differently, but live and learn, people. Pick yourself up and go forward, learn from your mistakes, and do your best to raise your kids right. Like I said, I don't know what happened in many of these cases, so judgement is a sketchy thought at this point.

When I hear her tell me tales of the kids she sees on a daily basis, my heart strings get tugged on something fierce. I want to take them all, bring them home with us, feed them, and make sure they know that there are good people out in this cruel world. I met one little gal a week or so ago that goes to school with Paige. She's ended up pregnant and I surely hate that's happened to her. I really hate that her family disowned her and kicked her out. I really hate that she's about to pop and working as a waitress to make money while going to school full-time during the day. (High school, that is.) I love how sweet and polite she is as she comes to our table to meet us...how her eyes sparkle even though they look so tired and older than her seventeen years. She told my daughter that she made a mistake, but she's going to do the absolute best she can with the situation she has.

I am so sad to hear about the boy who lives with his dad and brother and his dad kicked him out. How he makes excellent grades and talks about being a nuclear engineer one day, but needs shoes that doesn't have holes in them. I am warmed by the family that has taken him in, but I wonder what kind of Christmas season he will have in a home that isn't his?

Lord, please help me understand how this happens!! Please. I love my children with every fiber of my being and can't imagine treating them like they're disposable when the feeling strikes.

Lord, please help me find a way to help one of these kids in some way- be it large or small, before or on the 25th of this December month.

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