Burdened to Share

The last few days have been weighing heavy on my heart. Why? There is sadness all around us. God has brought people into my life that have needs and sometimes they are BIG ones! We have friends who have recently seperated, some who have found out their two year old has been diagnosed with cancer, one who is 32 years old and was lifeflighted out this morning, she had another stroke. Pain and sorrow is everywhere. Come Lord Jesus! Each time I hear of more heartache I pray for HIS return. May we each be burdened to share the Easter story with others this holiday season, and year round!
Yesterday afternoon I was standing around chatting with other soccer moms the conversation went from light hearted chatter to extremely serious. One of the moms daughters came to us and asked a somewhat general question that totally floored us. She shared that she was afraid for her friend. Eyebrows went up all around and we all stopped watching our boys practice and gave this dear tormented teenager our apt attention. Her friend in school is a cutter. Apparently her parents have gone through a divorce recently and she is being told she has to spend the summer with her father, which is a total meltdown in her world. Since I have very limited knowledge of the family life, I can only pray for all involved. Anyway, this girl is tired of life and just doesnt see another way. She apparently tried cutting her hand between her thumb and forfinger to see if she could handle the pain. When her mother noticed, she lied and said it was an accident while cutting potatoes for dinner that night. My friends daughter is now crying and said that she is worried that this friend will slit her wrists next since she realized she can live with the pain to her hand. I took the next few moments while the other moms were flooding this poor girl with questions and assuring her she was doing the right thing to just pray. What is going on with our youth today? I was also able to observe the way these other women were handling the situation. One was solid on going to talk to the friends mother right that minute, while another suggested talking to the guidance counselor. We all had moist eyes for this poor child and how she was considering such a drastic and permanent action. The mom and the daughter left practice early with promises from another mom to take the extra boy home from practice and they could get him after dinner.
Have you ever had God seal your lips? He did mine. I am sure of it. I had a million things I wanted to say to that sweet friend who cared enough to share with her mom and her friends; but I couldn't. I had words of comfort come to mind listening to the other mothers talk about the worry they have for their own children, but I couldn't open my mouth. The only time I was able to say something was when I was able to hug that mom on her way to her car and whisper to her that I will be praying. She stopped, stepped back and just looked at me. "Really? You don't even know this girl or her family and you want to pray?" All I could do is nod. She hugged me again and told me thank you. I don't know if that was a good thing or not with her, I guess I will find out as we see each other three or four times a week. Maybe that was a chance to witness in a small way.
With my eyes watching my boy practice and listening to the other moms with my ears, I just prayed in my heart for the rest of practice. One of the moms shared about how this was really close to her heart as when she was in college her brother shot himself to death. Apparently she was supposed to watch him while her parents ran an errand,as he was grounded for drinking with his friends. She was watching TV in another room when her brother told her he was going out to wash his car. She heard a door shut and moments later she heard the shot go off. He had found one of his dad's loaded guns and killed himself in his room. This friend of mine still carries that guilt today. She said she blames herself all the time and she is super sensitive to hurting teens. She even works on a local hotline for troubled teens.
My heart aches for this situation and the many others I know nothing about. I can only pray that this girl gets the help she needs and that her parents take time for her and quit hurting each other.