Chapter 12 - He Would Sit Beside Him
I was helping at church with Confident Kids, a wonderful program for kids going through any type of difficulty. One week we were talking about how we react to those around us. I told a story of a girl with a limp and how some other girls made fun of her. Another girl in the story was pressured to also make fun of the girl with the limp. I asked the kids in my group what the girl being pressured to join in the bullying should do. I received many good responses from "walk away" to "go tell a teacher". Then I asked what the kids thought Jesus would do. Five year old Ben raised his hand. Ben's mother died suddenly while Ben and his brothers were home. He was dealing with allot of anger issues so I expected an answer that had something to do with him beating up the mean kids. Instead Ben said "He'd go and sit beside her."
Here was a little boy that knew God did not always answer prayers the way we would like. He understood that people close to you die, even Mommy's, but he could still see Jesus as someone that comes and sits beside us. Ben is one of my heroes.