Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A Friend Indeed

UPDATE: Today we had a conference at school, and my daughter was move immediately into another class. She is now with two kids she has known almost her whole life,, in a class without cliques and powerful girls. PRAISE GOD! The amazing thing is that He had it all worked out before we even asked for help. Isn't God good that way????
My daughter is a very studious, serious kid, with little interest in  what's popular or trendy....loves 80's music, thrift store shopping and wears sort of her own style of clothing that is a mix of grunge/Miley Cyrus/hippy chick. She is tall for her age, and very smart. She is not into rap music or partying or skipping school, and she loves to spend time with her family, reading, and watching Food Network which has inspired her to be a pastry chef when she is an adult. She is interested in pursuing a degree in culinary arts. She is active in our church, she helps with the little kids and is on the interpretive dance team and in youth group. Basically, she is everything a parent could ask for and then some. (I may be biased, but I am also right lol)

Lately, my daughter has had some issues with "mean girls" at school. Who knew middle school girls were so brutal???? They tease her and exclude her and say mean things about her shoes and lanyard and lunch box. (They wear uniforms, so they have to find other things to harass her about) This has been going on for a while, and over Thanksgiving break her closest friend in her class dumped her (by text message even) for not being cool enough to hang out with.

WHAT?????? How can kids be so mean? Who is raising these girls to be such snotty cliquish little brats? Why can't they all just go to school and get along and be happy? I blame hormones myself. But I also blame parents and media influences. We all know kids mimic what they see. I am willing to bet their Moms treat people the same way, forming relationships based on what the other person looks like or can do for them rather than what is real and true. And the media...oh goodness. We hear all sorts of stuff there, even from husbands and wives like Tiger and Elin and Jon and Kate. When people are publicized making fun of or trashing their spouse, what dignity can be left? And don't even get me started on Nancy Grace.....

However, my daughter has recently discovered a great friend at church. He is a really sweet kid, a couple of years older than my daughter, raised in a single parent home by a Godly mom. He asked his mom what was wrong with my daughter, what was going on, and his mom told him. He began texting her, telling her how he thought she was so cool and that the other kids didn't see what was really there in her. Then he had her begin looking up scripture verses about how she is so perfectly made, how she is unique and beautiful in God's eyes, and how she is created in God's own image.

A complete turn around is taking place. Yesterday I was fixing my hair in my bathroom, and my daughter was in her bathroom doing her daily chores. Through the wall I heard her singing. For the first time in a long time, my daughter is HAPPY.

The texting is continuing, and she is being encouraged and strengthened beyond anything I could have forseen. I am thanking God for sending my daughter a friend that we have prayed for, for the young man's obedience in what God told him to do, and for the young man's mom for raising such a wonderful son.

I am also thanking Him for unlimited text messaging......:)

5 comments:

Jamie said...

Awwww... that's SO sweet! ;)

Debbie said...

I am so happy she has found a good friend who know how simply marvelous she is. Thank the good Lord there are still some decent teenagers in this world. I love you all so much!

Anonymous said...

What an absolute joy! Your heart must be bursting.
Hayley DiMarco wrote a great book called Mean Girls: Facing Your Beauty Turned Beast. I read it first and then my daughter started it. She was having a horrible time dealing with the mean girls in her life and becoming a mean girl in turn because she was mirroring what they were doing in a defensive way. The book is biblically based and really great. Even helped me to sort through bad feelings I had because of the mean girls in my life.

Moira said...

Wow, that is so awesome to hear a positive story like that - it gives me a little bit of hope for the current generation of teens and tweens. As an primary school principal I certainly hear about some nasty stuff, although being at a small Christian school we try to build a community where that doesn't happen, and we nip it in the bud if we do see it happening. Would you mind if I used your daughters story as a devotion with my class of Year 5 - 7 students? It reads almost like some Chicken Soup type story - in the best possible way!!

Nickie said...

I am humbled by your generous words regarding your daughter and the young man. God will use anyone, anytime with a willing heart. I can think of no one more deserving of the Father's attention through a friend than your daughter. She is truely a rare jewel God created, anyone who looks at her can see the Father's love in her beautiful face.

Can I just say I love your blog, and I know the email you recived is just the first of many. Change nations my friend, one blog at a time.

Love you and your family very much,

Nickie