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
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,
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~
