Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A Faithful Friend for Faith

I love taking Faith to school and seeing all of the kids coming in and out the doors. I laugh to myself when kids come flying in while the final bell is ringing and it's usually the same kids everytime! I watch the girls walk arm in arm whispering their secrets to each other and the boys being told to walk and not run. There is just something refreshing about kids being kids, laughing, talking and hanging out with each other.

But there is also something I see that makes me sad. There are some kids with disabilities, some in wheelchairs, who don't seem to have any friends. I see a little boy sitting at the end of the table at lunch quietly keeping to himself. I never see him with a friend. There are also other kids, mostly boys I notice, who may have more difficulty walking who don't seem to have any friends either. And of course it makes me wonder what it will be like for Faith when she gets older.

Right now, the kids in her classroom adore her. Some of them stop and say hi to her and give her a hug while we're waiting for her instructional aid to come and get her in the mornings. I love that these kids are so sweet with her and want to interact with her. In fact, her teacher told me that it got to the point where kids were fighting over who gets to sit next to Faith during certain activities in the day so she had to make a special seating system so each classmate would have their turn to sit next to Faith. Stories like this always warm my heart. But I worry about what it will be like for her when she gets older. Will these kids continue to treat her with such kindness? It is my prayer that Faith will find a faithful friend who will always be with her no matter what. Who will always be willing to help her when she needs it. It would break my heart to see her sitting at the end of the lunch table being ignored by her classmates.

I know the importance of having friends in school and for girls it seems like they always need at least one best friend. I think it gives one another a boost of self-confidence and it helps them to know that someone is on their side. So I pray and hope and pray some more that Faith will always have friends or one or two special friends who love her just the way she is, who take time out of their day to do things with her and who have the patience to help her when she needs it. It is my heart's desire that my daughter has a faithful friend.

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