Sunday, November 09, 2008

Sigh....my heart is heavy

My heart is heavy....my daughter is a willing victim. She has these evil men, guys in their early to mid 20's pursuing her. She is only 16 years old. They are african american men. She says I am racist, I tell her that if these guys were white I would be reacting the same way, it is not a matter of race but a matter of morals. These guys have gotten her in real trouble on more than one occassion. I see signs of gang activity, I see poor attitudes, and a hate for me that is un-nerving.
She has brought so much trouble into our lives and she views it as all my fault. As a parent I probably have brought it on because I am not willing to let her continue on the destructive path that she is on, but ultimately it is her actions that is bringing this all upon herself. How do you get a child with such poor self esteem to see that these guys don't care about her and that they are using her?
The hardest part is not throwing your hands up in the air and saying I quit. For how much anger, arguing, and hatred can a person put up with. But then I look at this young lady and I remember the little girl, that laughed and giggled and was so tender and caring to her family and it is for that little person that I throw on my uniform of war and put on my tough mental attitude to go to war for. I know she has to be in this tough shell of turmoil, she must be in there somewhere.
I just re-enrolled her into the local high school instead of the online high school.
She has a court hearing this week. Most likely they are going to send her to the youth detention center for a week. This breaks my heart. She has an enthusiasm for school right at the moment. She is talking about joining the chess club, and track in the spring. I am excited these are positive changes, but will the week in the detention center hurt her or will they just reinforce the positive changes she is trying to make? I am so afraid she will quit, give up and that this will just make things worse. But then again maybe, just maybe they will reinforce the fact that she needs to take stock in her life. Because ultimately no matter what I do or say or what the courts do or say it comes down to one thing - SHE must decide to make the changes in her life. NO ONE can do that for her.
I feel so alone....I am not a bad parent, my other children are fine. But this is a lonely road it seems. I can't find any support groups of parents with wayward children, to get advice and help from. I guess this is something that must be swept into a closet and endured on your own.
So for now I pray, thank God for those times when He lets me know that my daughter is up to no good (supernaturally there has been MANY times) and trust that I am being guided by a power that is much more wise than I am.

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