I read the news today. Ugh. For some reason today there was an overwhelming amount of terrible news about children. I happened upon a video report of a 13 year old boy being tormented by a "wolf pack" of other boys who, for 20 minutes assaulted this young man on the way home from school, dragging him through the snow, giving him wedgies and beating him. No one helped him, and as is becoming the custom among reckless bullies, someone recorded it.
My son is 13.
What if it had happened to him?
Another report of a 4 year old child kidnapped from his home and his small little body found lifeless in the middle of an irrigation canal.
I broke down. Never before has the news made me out-right cry but it did today. I just sat at my desk and bawled a prayer to Heavenly Father. "Why are there such mean people in the world?" "How in the world can I keep my family safe?" How does a mother in this day and age keep her children safe?
The answer is; I can only try. I can do my best. On my own, I have to trust that there will be others who will help me in this cause. On my own, I have to believe that there will be others in the world who will see with their eyes those bad things that happen to children everywhere and will choose to help.
So please, dear readers, choose to help me. Choose to help mothers everywhere by being that person who stands against the bad. Who doesn't look away when someone is being mean. Who teaches their own child how to be kind and how to be safe. Together it seems that we could make a wall, a safety zone of sorts, for all children who need help. We may not be able to be everywhere but we can ask God to help us be aware and be prepared to stand up for good and right. If evil can grow, so can good. More of us can be good and with that, more good can be done.
2 comments:
It is true that there are stories in the news every day that break your heart and terrorize you. While it is truely terrible about these individual children you speak of, for every 13 year old who was terrorized on his way home from school there where a million (including your own) who made it home just fine.
It will always be important for each of us to take our responsibility seriously to care for every child who is harms way, it is also very comforting and productive to count our blessings each day for what goes right in our lives.
I didn't mean to sermonize on you, but it does help to look at the world in a more positive light.
There is more good than bad in your life, and for most of the people I know. Let those of us who can say that be a "Force for Good" in the world.
Tiff, I have been thinking about things like this for a while now... and trying to not think of them as well. I break dwown and cry a lot when I read stories like this. A friend at work has been working with her church on getting imformed about human trafficking and how to help. It all just makes me cry. I'm so sad that people can willing do harm to others. There is so much ugly out in the world.
Thank you for the post. It gives me some hope. Your right if we ALL stand up and don't turn away we can make a change for the better!
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