Bullies & BFFs

I picked Maggie up from school, and she hopped in the car with the same vigor she’d expressed every other day that week. She immediately asked me for a snack and settled into her seat, humming a tune. I had no reason to suspect she’d had anything but a completely pleasant day, right?

“Maggie, how was your day?”

“Fine.”

Great. We kept driving. But after 10 minutes on the road, I said something benign, and she snapped. Tears cascaded down her sweatshirt, and snot oozed down her face. Oh geez. Apparently “fine” was a very loaded word today.

“Maggie, what HAPPENED at school today? Because you aren’t fine.”

She explained an incident which I would categorize as mild bullying involving a few classmates. The teacher, thankfully, caught the other kids in the act and immediately cut the whole thing off. But not before the damage was done emotionally. Words slice into us, and when we’re told we’re not wanted, and we’re ostracized, we feel it to the core… sometimes for a very long time.

I felt really, really sorry for her (of course–I’m her mom). At the same time, I knew this would not be the first time this would happen. It’s public school. Kids who are insecure, hurting because they’re living in unstable home environments, or simply mean-hearted will always take out their frustrations, disappointments, and insecurities on other kids. Sometimes, these kids will bully others without even meaning to–other times it’s very intentional. I explained all this to Maggie, but I knew it wouldn’t make her FEEL better. So I also got her ice cream and cuddled her :).

Lastly, when I was no longer driving home, and we were settled in at home, I did the most important thing I could do in the entire world. The mom thing I must do daily, which we all must do as moms. I prayed for her, aloud, with her. I asked God to be there with her at school. I prayed for the kids who were mean to her (and explained to her why we must forgive those who hurt us, and that forgiveness has nothing to do with the other person). I prayed for God to send good-hearted girls to befriend her the very next day.

Guess what happened? A girl she’d been getting to know came up to her the next day at recess and told her she wanted to be her BFF. Tell me that’s not God! He’s always come through for me and redeemed the worst situations, and He’s doing the same thing for my little girl. I can’t wait to see how gigantic her faith becomes.

For more stories like these, check out my new devotional book & gratitude journal for moms, Mama Meditations, Volume I.