Friends are hard to come by...

I am starting to get a taste of being the mother to older children. SCARY! I have worked so hard to help my children know who they are. I can't think of any greater fight against the temptations of the devil than this. When they come home from school and open up to me about how their day was, I can immediately see how Satan has been working on them. For example, Vanessa came home talking about a girl who is bullying her. The next conversation out of her was about how she doesn't like the color of her hair. What? Why these two topics together? So, I began to prod into what Vanessa's feelings were. I asked, 'Do you have any good friends at school Vanessa?' 'No, not really.' 'Do you think if you change the color of your hair that people will like you more?' I said. 'I don't know. Maybe.' She says.

So, I see my work in front of me. Just like that. 'Vanessa, what will you have to change next to make sure they like you?' She said, 'I get it Mom.' I said 'Keep looking for someone who you won't have to change who you are in order to be their friend.'

Vanessa has yet to find a good friend that is like her. She feels very alone. So far the girls she has found are the type of girls who find their self worth in worldliness.

Let this be a lesson to us all. Teach our children to find self worth in knowing they are a child of God and they have a special work to do here on this earth. Turn away from worldliness, and turn toward holiness.

Sidenote: After researching why my epidural shot didn't seem to have worked after that first couple of days I found out that the relief I was getting was from the lidocaine they used to numb the area for the actual procedure of getting the shot. The medicine inserted can take 10 days to 2 weeks to kick in.