The Warrior Is A Child

Last week, Jacqueline had a tough time in school.  She told me some of the things that were bothering her - it was tempting to tell her that she shouldn't be bothered by it or that it was nothing and to forget about it (compared to real problems adults face - her problem was a cinch).  But I didn't.  I sat there and listened as she tried to hold back a tear.  I gave her a long hug - rubbing her back in hopes that it would ease her burden a little.  Then I told her a story from my past - In high school, many of my classmates thought I had it all together.  They turned to me whenever they had problems.  They turned to me if they needed a helping hand because I was dependable.  I was always all smiles to them - they didn't think I had a care in the world and thought life was just easy for me.

They didn't know that the reason why I smiled all the time was that I never liked wearing my glasses (I bet you were thinking it was a little more profound than that - nah, I was a typical vain kid).  Let me explain a little.  Every morning I had to walk through this part of the school campus where a pretty tough village gang use to hang out.  It was a place where fights frequently occur and always for no particular reason.  One day, someone from that village, who happen to be a classmate of mine, told me that he thought I was stuck up. He had said hello to me and I guess I just walked by him without acknowledging him.   Yikes - he spoke to me with great displeasure and as if I was lucky to still be standing.  I had to explain to him that peoples' faces were just a blur to me because I needed glasses but didn't want to be caught dead wearing them. So I tend to look straight ahead so as to not offend anyone by accidentally looked at them the wrong way.  I've walked down those corridors for three years and didn't think I knew a friendly soul.  In any case, his comments made me very nervous - it was suicidal to walk through gang territory knowing that someone in the village already considers you a snob.  I was afraid of what would happen if one day an unfriendly decided I was a snob.  So I changed things around and I walked through the corridors with my head up and I made sure I always smiled.  I said good morning to everyone who looked my way even if I didn't know them.  Usually they smiled back.  A few months later, my friend came up to me and told me that people at his bus stop (this means they are from that village and had ties with that gang) were talking about me.  Yikes - I was scared.  He assured me that it wasn't bad - he said that they thought I was cool cuz I said hello to them and they didn't think I knew them.  I walked away relieved - "yeah, that's just how I roll."  At the end of my senior year, I was voted as one of the popular kids in school, friendliest they said. - - - Jacs then interrupts my story and says, "Mom?  What does this got to do with me?"  Hmmmm.  Maybe I got side tracked a little - and I forgot my point..... oh yeah.

They didn't know that the smile was a facade.  It masked the typical teenage problems and insecurities.   They didn't understand that I had an awesome God who was my "Wonderful Counselor", my "Prince of Peace", my "Everlasting Father, my "Best Friend". They didn't know that He was my shelter in the storm, my strength when I was weak.  One of my favorite songs when I was a teenager was by Twila Paris.  She sang THE WARRIOR IS A CHILD....
"People say that I'm amazing, never face defeat.  They don't see the enemy that slay me at HIS feet.  They don't know, I go running home when I fall down.  They don't know, who picks me up when no one is around.  I drop my sword and look up for a smile.  Cuz deep inside this armor - the Warrior is a child."  

The point is - when things get a little tough - the best person to always turn to is God because He knows exactly what you are feeling and it is always important to Him.  I loved my friends but I didn't need them to make me feel better because I knew the best one to turn to was God.  And I always always always felt better after telling it all to Him.