"This Is School, Fool!"

Photo Credit: Lindsay Coleman

     

       Almost everyday, my mom has crazy stories to tell about the high school that she works at. She may be in "Lock Down" one day, or dealing with loud-mouthed mamas coming to the school, in their house shoes and doo- rags, trying to compete with the fashions of their daughters (i.e. Daisy Duke cut-offs). Or the school psychiatrist may be threatening to kill herself, because of her broken down love life.

     Other days, my mom has to politely explain to a young man, why he can't simply come to school to visit and hang out with his cousin. "This is school, fool. And I don't know what you're packing."

     You might laugh. But the rage of this generation is often times disarming. And especially at a school where students consistently harm one another, steal, and threaten each other's lives, there's little room for vision and hope amidst these particular students. Their battle is intense and ongoing.

     In the midst of the storm, my mom is an anchor of peace. Her strength and hope has always been and is God. Ask any of the women and men that work beside her, that trust in her counsel, they'll speak with love and fondness. Ask the young students that she confronts in love, they become her children for life.

     But today, was a particularly rough day for my mother.

     She told me of how a 16 year old girl was assaulted and almost raped in the girl's bathroom by a young man that the young girl knew. Rather, this young girl had previously brushed aside the advances of this particular boy. He had tried to flirt, but she made it known that she wasn't interested. While his pride was hurt, his anger raged also. This young boy camped out in the girl's bathroom, until his timely opportunity arrived.

     The young girl fought him off, but the emotional trauma many times far exceeds the physical harm.

     My mom felt the weight of such an injustice. A place of safety, not just a physical place, had been defiled.

     As my mom told me this story, I felt her heart ache. But at the same time, I felt her anchor of Peace. It was other worldly and so beautiful to see in action.

     The story will not finish with injustice and defilement. It's hard to see that now. But this isn't the first time my mother has seen battle. More importantly, she knows and has seen the faithfulness of God's kindness in her own life and countless others.

     A place of safety and refuge is always ours, in the hands of God.

:::

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.  

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 


2 Corinthians 4:6-10

Wisdom's Knocking:

While the battle may be rocky, the victory will be stable.