Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Prayer for the Children

Tonight I am holding Max a little tighter, giving him a few more kisses, and saying extra prayers of thanksgiving for my precious child.  Tonight I am also saying special prayers for other children. Tonight I am thinking of another precious one year old who is lying in the hospital on life support because he was so severely beaten by a person who should have cherished him. Tonight I ache for his four year old sibling who came into our office today scared and confused and alone after witnessing his brother's abuse. Tonight I am trying to imagine why people are capable of treating children in such horrific ways. April is Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Awareness Month and I had planned to blog on teaching your children about touching, but tonight all I can do is pray.

A Prayer For The Children

We pray for the children
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those
who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never "counted potatoes,"
who are born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for the children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.

And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can't find bread to steal,
who don't have rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.

We Pray for the Children
who spend their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
who never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those
Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
Who will eat anything
Who have never seen dentist,
Who aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being

We pray for the children
Who want to be carried and for those who must,
Who we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance.

We pray for those we smother and for those who will grab the hand of
anybody kind enough to offer it.

1 comment:

The Hickman's said...

Marie - it makes me so sad that people in this world can abuse innocent children. Our prayers go out to these kids and all other kids who are in danger. Thank you for all you do for the children!