A Prayer For Children

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.  Last April I posted this.  This year, my Aunt Jan gave me a great "prayer" from a newspaper clipping she had.  I have no idea what newspaper, what year, or who wrote it.  But I do know it is awesome.  I thought I would share it with you.

A Prayer for Children
By: Ina Hughs

We pray for children

who put chocolate fingers

everywhere,

who like to be tickled,

who stomp in puddles and ruin

their new pants,

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’ve never squeaked across

the floor in new sneakers,

who never “counted potatoes,”

who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead,

who never go to the circus,

who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children

who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,

who sleep with the dog and bury

goldfish,

who hug us in a hurry and forget

their lunch money,

who cover themselves with

Band-Aids and sing off key,

who squeeze toothpaste all over

the sink,

who slurp their soup.

And we pray for those who never get dessert,

who watch their parents watch

them die,

who have no safe blanket to drag

behind,

who can’t find any bread to

steal,

who don’t have any rooms to clean up,

whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,

whose monsters are real.

We pray for children

who spend all 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,

and never rinse out the tub,

who get visits from the tooth

fairy,

who don’t like to be kissed in

front of the car pool,

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 a 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 children

who want to be carried,

and for those who must.

for those we never give up on,

and for those who never get a

chance.

For those we smother,

and for those who will grab the

hand of anybody

kind enough to offer.

And so, this month and always:  Love a Child.  Hug and Kiss them.  Let them know that They are the Only Them on the Planet and that They Matter.  Pray for Them.

And while you love the children in your life, remember that there are many, many, many children in the world, in your country, in your state, in your city, in your neighborhood, and perhaps even next door that need:

Love.  Hugs and Kisses.  Someone to tell them that They are the Only Them on the Planet and that They Matter.  Pray for Them too.

Wishing Love and Happiness to ALL the children of the world~

~M~