“One of Eric's class mates could really use your prayer. He is in the hospital with a severe brain injury and is on life support. Apparently he tried to commit suicide but the kids were not given that information. He is in a medically induced coma right now and it doesn't sound good. Please pray for him and the kids at the school.”
Marilyn
Received today~ Friday, February 26, 2010
“Keegan passed away today. Randy is struggling with why people still die when he prays for them. So keep the kids in your prayers now. It's going be rough. I will be going and staying at school with them to help them when the counselors talk to the classes.”
Rose
This e-mail rings a strong chord with my heart. Recently a young boy in grade school fell at my feet in a fetal position on the floor crying like he was in total pain. When I was able to get to the bottom of it all, his emotions were destroyed because his pizza was on the floor. I picked up his milk and wiped it off then assured him I would get him a new, clean piece of Pizza. When I walked him through the process of getting things worked out, he was fine again.
Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 in my work as a cafeteria monitor, I had a first grader break down with a serious emotional meltdown. I have been watching him for some time now and noticed he often wants to vomit. I have retrieved the wastebasket for him on several occasions. Sometimes he has actually vomited.
At any rate, I went to him because he was in distress again. He looked into my eyes crying until his chest was sobbing inward and outward with his tears rolling down his face, telling me in his broken way through tears and intense face with his hands motioning from chin toward top of his head, “My head starts to get full up and . .. “ He could not finish because he does not have the vocabulary at 6 years old to say his head will “explode” is what I took from this seriously sad moment. I am attempting to get him some help with a counselor.
There is another young man in second grade who also is showing signs of deep emotional stress. He will bend way over his food tray with fork shaking side to side under his head. He is in another world when he gets in this “trance” as I view him obviously in distress of some kind. Both children are smart individuals. These are not mentally challenged kids!
My friends, our children are under such pressure at home, school, and in the world from an over stimulated environment! There is not ever enough quiet s-l-o-w time or too often there is not a safe place for these kids to go and I find myself deeply concerned about our small children in school. Eric’s friend sadly does not come as a surprise to me. Quite frankly, the most stress I have observed has been with our young boys. I must wonder if our next generation of young men are going to be ready to face the rigors of adulthood.
I find myself praying for these precious children often even as I talk with them. One positive thing did happen recently. A child came crying deeply hurt. I learned from a mother visiting with her child that the table of students around him had revealed a “top” secret he told his friend. That “friend” told another and so on it went. Quite quickly the entire table knew his secret and all were laughing at him. I drew him gently away to a nearby seat in the cafeteria. I asked, “Do you go to church?” “Yes”, he said. “Do you know about Jesus?” I asked. He replied that he did and I said, “Jesus is the only friend that you can ever trust with any secrets and remember that for the future.” “But I trusted them!” He exclaimed. “Yes, I know but sometimes people disappoint us and cannot be trusted.” I said.
This child’s suicidal attempt and consequently resulting in his death only confirms my resolve that we all have a responsibility to keep our school children in our prayers. I encourage parents in these busy over stimulated times to seriously consider home-schooling your children. They are the most valuable part of your life. There is so much more home school support out there now. When I home schooled for a semester to get our oldest on course with his studies in 1987 there was very little support but it is a different story now. If home schooling is out of the question, then make quiet time mandatory for your child some way, some how! Turn the television off! Even the newer more recently produced cartoons are getting vulgar or sexually tainted. And we all know how commercials are exploiting every possible means of sexual activity or demeaning family values by often having a child act out inappropriately toward an adult.
Parents~ delegate quiet time and play time; real play time, not in front of the television with an X-box! With five children, George and I were exhausted most of the time but going the extra mile to protect their minds and emotions was well worth the effort.
Judith
