What a weekend

While nothing dramatic happened to me - save the Spurs losing AGAIN -, all around me was activity and drama. I feel like I was in a room, turning slowly in a circle, watching everyone going through their "stuff" from the distance. Some, I'll share with you...

We had a high school senior commit suicide Thursday night. On Friday, I called a friend who was one of his teachers (I didn't know when I called!) to see if she knew who he was... we spent quite a while talking about him, the action he had taken, the aftermath on all around him and so on. She spoke of him in a tender, concerned way, and it reminded me that teachers deal each day with children who are troubled, lonely, and often scary. His death could have been worse - we read about those kind of things all the time, and I am grateful to him for going alone. I have had students in the past that I could see being very dangerous; even in 4th grade, I've had students threaten to kill themselves. And yet, we cannot invest ourselves too much in these particular students, or we would be depressed ourselves. Which leads me to the next event.

Sat. night, Andy and I got to join some friends at a benefit for the Medina Children's Home. I've heard my friends talk about it before, but we'd never gone. At the last minute, a pair of tickets became available, so we went. It was lovely; a nice silent auction, delicious food, a beautiful song by a group of ladies, and testimonies from a couple of children who are residents there. One girl, in particular, spoke to my heart as she talked about her mother. We could have changed places, she and I. Our stories were very similar, except my mother stopped short of locking me out of the house. It ended up being the best thing for this girl, and her future is bright. Her scars are not yet completely healed, but she has learned that there is plenty of love and support outside the blood relationships we have that can get us through. I wanted to talk to her, but I was too emotional.

Then, came Sunday. In Bible class, something very hurtful was said in the class that should have been handled more privately. As I carefully watched the reaction of the person to whom the remark was made, I was impressed by the ability they showed to take the comment with all its brutality and go on without reacting in any way. The person who said it rarely makes comments, but boy, when they do!!!

Next, Erin called to give me an update on their weekend, and told me that her inlaws had a big, big mess going on with their home - a leak 15 years in the making finally showed itself and ruined about 3 rooms of their lovely home. (For the full report, see Erin's blog!)

So, it's been a weekend of seeing people handle life. Sometimes I marvel at how each person takes on the stresses of their life and process what it is and how to deal with it. It seems some can take more than others; their spirit more resilient.
Here's to each one - may today be much easier to handle!!