i must write- it will be raw

A week ago my daughter was violently assaulted by an eight year old little boy. She was pushed down and pulled down. She was refused the right to leave the room. She cried for help and no one heard. She was pushed down onto the floor with a folded metal chair. She was cornered and threatened and then hit in the head with a large board. When she finally lay crying on the floor in the corner, the young boy ran from the room, shutting off the light and leaving her alone.

My brain is having problems taking that picture from my head. The picture of my baby, alone in the dark, crying. She is cowering on the floor. Did she pass out? I do not know. Did she call my name? Did she feel deserted and so alone? She does have a concussion so I do know that her pain there is the dark was not minor, but was severe.

As parents we are to protect them, but we can't always. That is a hard thing to learn it is easier to say, harder to understand. In places you feel safe you are not always safe. With people you feel safe with you are not always safe.

She has had some bad dreams... she has dreamed of robots attacking her and trying to kill her. She has had dreams of cars running over her legs. She has talked to her precious Bear about a girl hitting him in the head and has talked of getting him a wheelchair in case he is hurt. She played pretend jousting with him yesterday and Bear got hurt and then she spent the rest of the day taking care of her sweet Bear. Doctoring him and giving him medicine and just loving him so sweet.

Last night I made a mistake. I tried to take her to church. She didn't want to go, but I thought it would be good for her to go. She loves the people there, she hugs the pastor, talks with her friends, hugs her teachers, helps me serve pizza and sodas.

Last night she laid on me during services. Snuggling close. She went to class happily but didn't remain happy. She cried off and on during class, hiding in a little corner so that others wouldn't see her. It was all too much, too soon. I didn't realize. She has so much fear that right now she doesn't understand.

It is all still so surreal to me.

Compassion in Haiti

Tonight I was searching for more information on Haiti and of how Compassion international was working with their centers there in Haiti when I came across this information.

I read through and not having a child sponsored in Haiti I didn't look for a specific center.

I did however read the comments and I read the comments and I read the comments.

It wasn't long before I had tears in my eyes. There were 100 comments, most from sponsors looking for ANY information on their child. They sound desperate and I am sure they are. They were trying to figure out exactly where their child was on the map and comparing that to where the epicenter of the quake was.

Some of them left comments that they were glad that their child was on an island far away, other left comments that they child was just 7 miles from the epicenter and they simply asked for prayers.

The pain and emotion is raw in the comments and to me sounds like so much more then simply a relationship where money is just sent.

It is obvious that these children are loved, cherished, prayed over, thought of and believed in.

These sponsors sound more like parents, longing for information yet fearful of what they will hear.

If you are looking for a way to help in Haiti, you should consider Compassion International. They have a large network already at work in Haiti. They know the people, they are the people there and they are already in place to start helping.

This page has all the Haiti updates from Compassion and it has specific ways in which you can help and what exactly your donations will do for the people of Haiti.

Please check it out.