Prayers for the Abused/Neglected

So after reading about the recent tragedy of a couple abusing torturing their 4 foster children and biological child, I have had many thoughts running through my mind.  First and foremost, I need to know how any person, especially a parent, can think it's okay to do such horrible things to children.  Secondly, I want to make it known that I love my son more than anything in the world.  He irritates me to absolutely no end from time to time, but I would never in a million years do anything to hurt him.  There have been several times where I have had to let him cry in his crib so I could give myself a time-out because I could not deal with him effectively and felt myself becoming stressed.  At one point, I just couldn't deal with him at all and went so far as to make his dad keep him overnight (this was his first overnight since we had split up).  Never, not once, did I think to tie him to anything or hit him anywhere besides his bottom a time or two.  Thirdly, I thank God every single day that my mother never abused my sisters and me.  Now three girls, with only 18 months between them, is enough to drive any person crazy, especially a single mother.  But she never hurt us and never neglected us.

It is a sad shame that these events have taken place.  The children will be in my prayers for obvious reasons.  The parents will be in my prayers as well.  What they have done is despicable, yes.  I am praying for their hearts to be changed and for them to feel as much remorse as I do for what those kids have had to go through.  The physical damage will heal but the emotional havoc that they have endured will go on for many years to come.

And lastly, I must speak out to those involved with the department of child services.  I ask that you take a look at your protocol for placing children in foster homes and take steps to ensure this kind of thing never happens to another child.  It's bad enough they can't be with their biological families so lets not make it worse by placing them with horrible strangers.

Say this little prayer, or come up with your own.  These children, and so many more that we don't know about need our help today and everyday.

"Father God, I ask that you ease the physical and emotional pain these poor children have been dealt.  I pray that you will heal them and bring them safety and joy in this difficult time.  Lord I ask that you work on the two people responsible for this abuse and neglect.  I ask that you give them heavy hearts so that they can see the wrong in all of this.  I pray right now Father that you will see to the safety of all the other children in the world and that nobody else has to deal with anything even remotely close to this.  I ask this all in your holy name.  Amen."

Are We There Yet?

So here lately, I’ve been contemplating many different things.  As the semester draws closer to the end, I’m becoming more stressed over assignments and tests.  I’m anticipating the start of the spring semester.  My classes will finally ALL be medical assisting courses… the ones that I will enjoy.  I’ve been dreaming about the upcoming tax season when I’ll hopefully be able to purchase a new-to-me vehicular unit.  I’ve been wondering how I have been blessed with such an amazing little boy to love and tend to.  He truly does amaze me every single day.  And I need to spend more time with him.  And that’s been happening slowly but surely.

But above all that, I’ve been pondering one thing quite often.  It’s trying my patience without a doubt.   But at the same time, I also have new things to hope for now.  I know what I want, and I want it right now.  But as a Joyce Meyer article spelled out for me (yet again) God will grant me this only when I can trust in Him and stop demanding things from Him.

Lately, I’ve really been trying to be more patient and just enjoy the ride so to speak, but anyone who knows me will tell you that’s not an easy task.  I don’t like not knowing, not being able to figure it out for myself.  I keep thinking of the future and trying to figure out how everything relates to everything else and I can picture things perfectly.  But as my patience wears thin and my ability to just wait nears extinction I have to wonder if I’ve been imagining things all wrong.

Maybe what I want is not what God has in store for me?  This seems a little silly at the moment (to me anyway) but what else have I got to cling to?  I know that whatever story He has written in the book of my life will be exactly what it is supposed to be.  But that doesn’t make the not knowing, and the not getting what I want any easier.  It just makes me that much more intrigued, which simply fuels my desire to control my own life.  As one of my professors would say “it’s a positive feedback loop.”

I recently came across an eye-opening quote: “God doesn’t give us clarity, son.”  Can I get an Amen!?  Some things are clear as day, but still other aspects of our journey are blurred by fog.  It’s crazy to think about it.  Just as when driving through fog, nothing will make it crystal clear but time.  Think about it like this: a foggy autumn morning while driving to school or work, we have trouble seeing distant objects.  We turn on our lights but they don’t do anything at all to clarify anything.  Squinting and focusing do nothing.  The only thing allowing us to see what lies ahead is to slowly and carefully drive into the unknown.  With each turn of the wheel, we see what we couldn’t see before, but we still can’t see too far ahead.  Using our experience and our experience as drivers, we are able to travel the road and arrive at our destination exactly when we are supposed to despite the hazy atmosphere.

And on that note, I guess it’s time that I start taking my own advice and just plow full steam ahead and let God handle the details and destination.  I’ll just try to focus on the journey J