It dawned on me as we were waiting for the event to begin, that I had never talked to the children about the difficult topic of domestic violence. For some it's not a topic, it's a lifestyle. Lord, how can I say this? How can I explain this to bring understanding yet diffuse fear? I love how God makes room for Himself in a child's heart. When He fills that place in them, the enemy cannot. Tonight, over the course of about an hour, my Heavenly Father did a beautiful job of keeping the heart and mind of my children filled with His presence. Daniel sat on my knee as we clapped and bounced to the music. Bethany's mind had begun to think about my explanation ("It's when someone in the house is dangerous to others they live with." "What do you mean, Mom?" "I mean, they might want to physically hurt someone in their home." "Oh." she said.)
We stayed for an hour, but with tomorrow coming soon, and the night growing late, we left. As we pulled out of the parking lot, Bethany said, "I have never been so thankful for my family." "What?" I asked, as I wanted to inquire further. She then repeated it. I had to ask what prompted this statement. Then she said, " I am so thankful for my Mom and Dad, and that I was not born into a dangerous family." If I could somehow find words to describe the sound of her voice; the gratitude and the portion of sorrow gracefully mixed together, you might be able to get just a taste of what I received. Her deepest thanks quietly spoken punctuated by her deeper understanding of the world she has been born into. " God sure has been good to us." she said with relief.
10 comments:
Wow...some days the works of a mother are intense...my He open the ways of understanding.
I think it's good that you were able to be the one to talk to them about this, and use the right words along with prayer to tell them.
It is sad that we have something like this to even explain.
It's amazing how when you don't see "images" related to this, how sensitive your heart is if you see something that slightly resembles it. Daniel fell asleep during prayer, which was wonderful, and Bethany was already looking at her book on Mammals.
Mari, I too am so glad I was the one who could, as gently as possible, tell them one more reason Jesus died.
I just do not have words except to say I again thank God for your ability to hear the voice of God and address the issues of their hearts and their unspoken questions. I pray somewhere along in life God with use what Bethany learned from her mother to help some unfortunate child who needs HER to tell them about Jesus. I know she will!!!!
Susan, I echo your prayer. Heaven will be free of ALL of these things: how wonderful that will be.
I struggle with how much of the outside world to tell my kiddos about! We are so blessed to live in a place where we are pretty well insulated from much of what happens. It's important for them to see pieces of the real world, so they don't go into shock when they venture out someday, but there's so much awfulness out there, my tendency is to want to shield them completely. It's hard to find the happy medium. (Balance, you know... that tricky spot....)
It is hard to find the balance. With living in a large metro area we are exposed to quite a bit, homeschooling and all. In other words, homeschooling doesn't necessarily shelter them, but it does shield them somewhat and allows us as parents to give them things in bite-size pieces as far as issues are concerned. Hopefully, home is the first place they'll learn of most of this. Yes, balance is the tricky issue.
What a sweet girl you have! I just love her heart and I think you did a great job at explaining a difficult topic to them...
She just made me cry. We've been struggling with disappointment in the low attendance at that event; something which seems to follow us no matter what we set our hand to. To know that God is working in Bethany and Daniel as a side effect of our efforts is going a long way to easy my heart pain.
Thank you, Kathy, for posting. I love you!
Toni, I hear what you're saying. God used that event in our household, and so I KNOW that other lives were touched as well.
You and David are forerunners and visionaries, and the crowd doesn't always follow in throngs, but you've now plowed and planted. Unless the Lord is saying "don't", to me, that event was a small beginning, but just that, a beginning. Go with what God says, and sweat not the numbers. Unfortunately, you all have to work as hard for a small or large crowd. I had my own measure of disappointment in the crowd too, and I can only surmise that events such as graduations may have held some back. We'll trust God...I truly feel it was just a beginning. What a wonderful cause. I appreciate you and David's passion and dedication to giving.
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