A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13, NIV

In a moment of weakness, I took a position in a facility for homeless children and youth—or at least they didn’t have homes where they were welcome or safe. I was strongly warned about one: difficult, won’t work, can be violent, has temper tantrums.

I worked one-on-one with this ten-year-old boy. It wasn’t that I could not get him to work. He stayed on task. The problem was the cloud of negativity with which he surrounded himself.

“Too hard! Too much! I can’t.”

Head on desk. Face in frown. An occasional marker hurled across the class. A paper scribbled over and torn out of frustration that it wasn’t right.

I would come home exhausted and stressed from just two hours with this boy.

One night, I was up half the night wondering how in the world I would ever make a difference.

But the very next day, I saw a break in the clouds and the sunlight shining through. I wanted to bottle it. Share it. Cherish it.

On the way to work that morning, I turned on the Christian radio station and listened to the song by Mercy Me, “If We Are the Body.” The words pierced my heart. They challenged me: How will God’s love be seen if it isn’t flowing through me? How will God go if my feet don’t take Him? How can He reach if my hands aren’t outstretched? 

I promised God that I would take His love into school with me that day. That was nothing new for me. I had declared hundreds of times that I was taking Jesus into hard places. But that day….that day, I was facing a very troubled boy whose entire demeanor moaned, “Unwanted.”

When he came in, I showed him the book I had for him to read.

“Too long. Too hard. Too many words.”

We sat down and he started to write. He quickly became angry, scribbled so hard that the paper tore, and tossed it aside. I made no reference to that action.

Instead I said, “We both have some bad habits. Let’s talk about mine first.”

(Head down.)

“My habit is that I talk too much! I’m very annoying. My brother always told me I was annoying. Oooh. That brings back a bad memory.”

(Head up an inch.)

“You know what I see as your bad habit?”

(Hands over head as if not to hear.)

“I see your bad habit as saying the words, ‘I can’t. I won’t. Too hard.’ Are you willing to try something?”

(No response.)

“What if I buy a pack of little treats and if you can go for ten minutes without saying anything negative, without putting your head down or complaining, you can have a treat? And if you do it another ten minutes you can have another treat?”

(Head came up and eyes connected.)

“These are nothing but habits. You can change these habits. They’ll change your future.”

He said, “I never had anger problems until I had to move out of my house. I haven’t seen my baby sister but only once. They are all good. I’m the bad one.”

At this, I felt the righteousness of God rise up on the inside of me as I said, “You are not bad! You are not bad at all! You are a precious boy! A wonderful boy!”

We began the plan of changing his behaviors. His eyes took on a light which I recognized as hope.

“I have to be good for three months. If I am good for three months I get to go to a foster home,” he said.

It was all I could do to keep from crying. But then I remembered the words of one of my professors, “Cheryl, you will never help a student with pity or even compassion. You help them by giving them strategies so that they can change.”

Dear Lord, Please give me the patience and wisdom for one special student today. Thank You. Amen.

Copyright Cheryl Skid.

Cheryl is a member and retired educator from Missouri.

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