She Makes A Difference!

I will start this entry out with no guilt. I just refuse to lament about what a blogging slacker I am. =)

I felt so compelled to document this one because it is the epitome of what my daughter is all about...

A little background: Last year in third grade, Goosey Lou made a great friend, Queen Bee. They were very tight and it seemed like it might be of the sort that would last a long, long time. However, as the year progressed, I noticed that Goosey was not speaking about Queen; she was not calling her friend on the phone; and she seemed to be unhappy when this child's name was brought up.

One afternoon, Goosey came home and while we were chatting about her day, she started to cry and said "Mom. It is so hard to do the right thing. I don't know if I can do it." The 'right thing' in the case was standing up to Queen Bee when she called the kids in special ed "morons" or laughed at the girl who was a bit larger than the rest of her peers. You know the type.

But in particular, there was a little boy, William, that was new to the school. William was pretty awkward, loud, socially backward, and pretty lonely. He did not know how to be friends and never had anyone to play with. Goosey noticed. She began inviting William to play with her and her other friends. Queen began to call him names....Loser, Weirdo, etc. She informed Goosey that if she played with William, then she would make sure that no one played with her. And she was pretty successful in doing just that.

It is hard to do the right thing. I left it up to her. I told her that she needed to think about what kind of person she wanted to be and that Psalm 1:1 says "Blessed is the man who does not walk with the wicked or stand with evildoers or sit with the mockers." I told her that she did not have to be William's best friend, but it sounded like he might need a friendly face in the sea of kids who could not care less.

The ending to this story is that Goosey Lou gave up Queen Bee as her friend. She confronted her and actually made some mature decisions regarding her relationship. She lost her "best friend". She grieved and simply knew that she would never have the BFF that girls her age long for.

I met William last year at Goosey's birthday party. She invited him and about 12 others from her class. If I were being honest, I would say that William was the most annoying children I have encountered in years. He is REALLY awkward, VERY loud, SEVERELY backwards socially, and has one friend. =)

Fast forward to today:
Goosey's school has given out this rubber bracelet's with the words "I MAKE A DIFFERENCE" on them. They were given to each child to give to someone that he/she perceives to make a difference in their lives or their communities. They can be given to a staff member, a custodian, another student, etc.

Goosey waited until we were walking in the house today and said "Guess who gave me a "DIFFERENCE" bracelet today? William. Even though he is in another class, he walked into my room and handed me one."

I asked if he said why. She replied "He said that it was because I was a good friend to him. Even when no one wanted to include him, I always was his friend. Wasn't that nice of him?"

Wasn't that nice of him? I absolutely wanted to bust with happiness that my sweet, sweet daughter has such compassion for those kids who just want to be accepted.

Doing the right thing is really hard sometimes. She makes a difference though...every single day.