I am going to be vague because I must, but I will try to get the point across. I encountered twin girls, age 7 who had severe behavioral issues. Within an hour of arriving at the home, one of them began to hit, kick, scratch and pull the hair of other residents. She ran outside, into the street. She proceeded to take of all of her clothes and run around the house in just her pull-up. She then jumped on her bed, climbed of her dresser, and tried to jump and climb off of a second floor banister. Her sister and the other residents just watched while myself and our staff tried to keep her from hurting herself.
Fearing that she would eventually hurt herself, we called a mental health professional to evaluate her. The Doctor declared that she was a threat to herself and others, and that she needed to be moved to a higher level facility.
I then had the job of persuading the 7 year old child to get into the ambulance and go with the EMTs. I will spare you the heart wrenching details, mostly because I have yet to tell the story without crying. Not that there is anything wrong with tears, but my emotions are not the point of this post.
The point is, that no matter what I said, no matter what I did, nothing was going to reassure this seven year old that being buckled into an ambulance with two strangers, without her sister, or her mother, was a good idea. She screamed, and she yelled and she was scared. I would be too.
I can't seem to get the picture out of my head, especially when I am trying to sleep. (Hence the late night post) But then I think of her, and that she doesn't exactly have visions of sugar plums dancing in her head either. And I pray. I pray for her. For her sister. For their family. I pray for the plan the Lord has for all of them. I pray for the love that he has for all of us. I pray for a world that has been so overcome by sin, that a 7 year old child is wearing the effects of it.
We live in a fallen world indeed. I praise God that He has given us a Lord and Redeemer over this fallen world.
1 comment:
So very sad and scary.
I can't relate to quite that degree of severity, but I do occasionally babysit for a family with two girls with severe behavioral issues, plus their three year old brother. About a month ago something set off one of the girls while I was watching the three kids and the situation escalated to the point that I strongly considered calling the police (because my calls weren't getting through to the mom). It is unbelievable how much damage a small child can do. It was scary for me, but it must have been far more scary for her to be in such a state of panic that she couldn't control her behavior. Such an incredibly disturbing thing to watch.
So yes, praise God that he has redeemed even this.
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