NoThanks – Day Twenty

Today I’m thankful for…

I’m not exactly sure. Oh, there’s plenty I’m extremely grateful for. It’s not like I can’t think of anything. It’s just that I’m so hopping furious right now it’s hard to land on something good.

You see, I have this friend. In fact, I have these two friends. They’re a mother and a daughter and I’m very partial to them both. They are a mother and grandmother of a middle school girl who is not only one of the cutest, but one of the kindest, sweetest, coolest kids I know. And it’s no wonder when you consider her mom and grandmom.

This bright, funny, totally awesome chick is being bullied. Bullied by a couple of girls who can only hope to be half as wonderful as she is. By girls who post sexy, slutty pictures of themselves on Facebook. These are children!

I want to scream and punch something and, if I’m honest, I want to smack these girls hard across the face and shout, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you really think this makes you cool? Do you honestly think it’s funny? Do you have any idea what kind of damage you could be causing?? Do you care that this type of behavior is what causes some kids to kill themselves? Do you understand that that would make you a murderer?”

But I don’t want to stop there. I want to smack the parents, too, and yell, “Do you really have no idea what your girls are doing? I know you’ve seen the pictures they’ve taken and posted on Facebook because you took some of them! Are you truly that stupid? And where did they learn such evil and hatred?”

My heart breaks for my friends and especially for this young girl that I adore. And as enraged as I am, my heart is a little bit sore for these selfish, broken bullies who somehow think this asinine behavior makes them cool. I have to believe their parents don’t know what these girls are doing and I just wonder how they will feel when they find out. And make no mistake, they will find out.

As a mother I would be absolutely devastated to learn that my child was treating another child this way. It would not go well for my offspring and they knew this from a very early age. I’ve always been a fairly laid back mom, but there are some things that are absolutely unacceptable, no exceptions, and I am very confident that my kids never had any doubt about this particular subject.

I guess if I’m going to find something to be thankful for in all of this it’s that our young friend has insinuated herself in so many hearts. She is surrounded by a family who loves her tremendously and a community of people who feel the same way about her, including several high school girls (which is kind of a big deal to middle school girls). And even though that love doesn’t insulate her from this ugliness, my prayer is that it will keep her focused on the truth. That she is NOT what a couple of stupid girls say she is. She is what the majority of us KNOW her to be. And that is a beautiful, smart, talented, funny and sweet girl made absolutely perfect by an absolutely perfect God.