My Heart Hurts

My heart is broken today. Yesterday afternoon my son, Dylan, came home from school feeling so down and discouraged. Someone at school hurt his feelings. With just a few words, Dylan's day was ruined.

Dylan's head has a scar on it. It is from a surgery he had as a baby. He usually doesn't think much about it because he can't see it. Yesterday someone reminded him that he wasn't perfect...that he had a visible flaw...that he was different. Words could not console my sweet child. Neither could hugs from his mom. Or homebaked cookies. All Dylan could hear were the lies in his head:

I'm not like everyone else.

What do people think about me? They probably think I look funny.

They don't like me. I'm ugly.

I don't fit in. I'm sad about how I look.

I don't like how I look. I wish I didn't have this stupid scar. What good am I?

Oh how I hate how words can sting even when they aren't really intended to hurt us. It's so easy to let the lying voice inside our head convince us that we are less or inferior. It broke my heart to hear Dylan cry and see his tears. He was broken and so was I. I would give just about anything to make him feel better.

Fortunately it was "Skate Night" last night. I told Dylan to call 2 of his best buds and we'd go skate the sadness away. And that's just what he did. I received loads of joy watching my sweet sensitive son skate, laugh, and play with his friends. His class even won a pizza party for having the most kids there!

As I was tucking Dylan in bed last night, we talked about the power of words. Then we talked about the Power of The Word...The Word of God. His Word says that in all things He works for the good of those who love Him(Romans 8:28)...and Dylan does very much. The biggest blessing in Dylan's life is his faith. He believes in the power of God and he believes God. In fact he's had such an impact on others because of his faith that his story is featured in Sharon Jaynes' book Your Scars Are Beautiful to God and he's only ten. That's what I tried to get through to him. What really matters is that he is terrific (from head to toe), in the eyes of the Lord. He is beautifully made (Psalm 139:14). To which he replied, "I know I am Mom, but it still hurts."

I hear ya Dylan...and I completely understand. It hurts me too.

Claiming Romans 8:28,

Melissa