This One's Mine

This One’s Mine.

               Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you…

LIES!

               I have run the gamut of emotions this week.   I have been angry. I have been proud. I have cried a river of tears.  And God help those little girls who have made my daughter their target. The momma in me has felt the need to take some little prissy girls and well…

                I have seen bullying before.  I do teach school every single day. It is hard to believe I know, but I was once a kid.   I know the pain of careless words and actions.   I have dried the tears of other people’s children. I have interceded, stopped it. I have set a few kids straight in my day.

But this time it is different.  This time it is personal.  This time it is my child…..This One’s MINE! 

               I checked the story from all angles.  I made sure that there was no fault she could take.  No responsibility she needed to own up to. Her story checked out…..

 I was absolutely livid.

               But…..  I can’t be THAT mom.  I have always raised my girls to be strong, independent, problem solvers.  “Work the problem. We don’t quit, we don’t shrivel up.  We deal!”   I will lead and encourage, but I will not swoop in and solve it.  I have seen all too often the damage that can do.

 Adults with no life skills because momma fixed everything…  that is not the plan for my girls.

               “ Mommy, their goal is to make my life miserable.”  What do you do when you precious little fourth grade girl says that to you?  I wanted to go kick some tail,  but that doesn’t teach her what to do when I am not there.

I told her teacher ( who is an absolute angel) and she did EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO HELP STOP IT.  But I know all too well the limitations of a teacher being absolutely everywhere all of the time.

               I tried to talk Lindsey through it, tell her to hold her head up, but little girls can be cruel.  I waited for it to get better, or for them to move on to another target……..

                                    After 3 weeks –   THIS MOMMA HAD ENOUGH!

 I had a teacher who witnessed it tell me how proud I should be of my daughter.  How she had to withstand a public lashing. (A lot can happen across a room, or even a hallway. It was stopped as soon as possible.)    She handled it with grace and class.  She stood up for herself in a Christlike manner until it ended.   I know I should have been proud, but when I found out that her day had once again been awful, and I broke down.  Right there in the hall in front of MY students…. I cried. 

                One thing I do love about 6^th grade is the attachment that the students have with their teacher!  God help the poor fool who makes me cry in front of my students.   They will protect me at all costs, and I almost had a riot on my hands.   I saved the names of the offenders, but my students…..they were ready to kill.

               I knew I had to do something…. legal.  I went to my principal and fell completely apart right in his office.   I told the whole story.  He is a father, he knows the pain of watching someone mistreat your child.  He promised me it would be corrected.  It would be utterly and completely stopped within the day. 

 I talked with Lindsey that night and told her that it was over. She seemed relieved.  She was my child and I would move heaven and earth to make sure that no one would mess with her.

               My principal was true to his word,  and  it was over.  He even talked with Lindsey about how to handle it, and promised her that he would protect her at all costs. 

                It got me thinking about a parent’s love for their child.  I have always reacted, done my best to stop bullying and mistreatment, but something fierce came out of me when it was my child. 

This One’s Mine ! 

                There are days when I have been a victim of my own uncertainty.  When the world whispers you are not valuable.  You are no good.  We don’t like you, or what you stand for.  What do you do? Are you going to fight or stand there.

               We get ambushed.

  That is how I have been feeling lately.  Hit from every side, and dealing with it on my own.  I have tried to fix it, to resolve it in my own power. 

and I am failing.

God showed me that HIS love for me is even more than my love for Lindsey.  That HE is also listening and watching, waiting on me to give up and let HIM do what only HE can.

      Isaiah 43:1-4

Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you! I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.

               I am so glad I serve a God who loves me, who will protect me, and fight for me.  Whose words about me are the same as my words about my daughter.

Leave her alone….. This One’s Mine!