For All the Children with Broken Hearts

Y Y is my letter. Can't say it's my favorite. That would mean it makes me happy. No, it's just my letter. And brown is my color. But red is rising. My science teacher talked about the earth's plates. They shift around sometimes to make earthquakes or volcanoes. She showed us video clips. Magma makes the plates move. Something just clicked in my head when I heard that. I thought about it a lot. Magma is hot, and it moves around kind of restless. Sometimes I feel like I'm the brown earth. The magma is churning under the surface of my plates, making me feel restless. The red just keeps on pushing. And some day it's going to explode like a volcano. My magma is full of feelings. Sad. Angry. Scared. Lonely. Hurt. All jumbled up together. And it's full of hot questions, too. Why was Daddy so mad? Why does he hit people sometimes? Why did Mama get sick? Why didn't it just work out that I could stay with Grandma? Why did she and Nana have to argue over me? Why did strangers come and take me away? Why can't Buster come with me? Why do I have to go to a foster home? Why did Uncle Buddy show me those nasty pictures? Why did he touch me like that? Why didn't he stop when I said NO? Why can't I just have a normal life like everybody else in my class? Someday I just may shout all my questions at once. They'll spew out fast like lava reaching the sky. People will see the smoke for miles away. WHY? --D. Gornoski

Transform from Victim to Victor

Are you a victim of… Verbal abuse? Physical abuse? Sexual abuse? Someone who takes you for granted? A scam artist? Perhaps you find yourself in a situation like this: You give your boss your very best, but it never seems to satisfy him/her. Coworkers take advantage of you. Someone else can come in late or take long breaks without consequences, but not you. You seem to be the resident whipping boy or scapegoat. Your spouse does not appreciate your contributions to the relationship. It seems as if you do all the work but get no rewards for your labor. Your boyfriend/girlfriend uses you. Whether it is providing money or sex, you feel your only role is to satisfy his or her needs. Your relationship feels one-sided since you are the giver and he/she is the taker. You do more than your fair share at your church or club. When people need a job done, they call you. Although you are happy to help, you secretly resent the fact that you work harder than others. You have a big heart, so you help others whenever you can. After a while, you feel your energy sucked away. Too many people want too many things from you. You seem to be drawn to the same old kinds of relationships. You have a knack for picking losers. You try your best to help someone turn his/her life around. Instead, the relationship only drains you. A secret is tucked away in the recesses of your past. Someone abused you. The pain is too great to even think about, but the experience colors everything in your life. You wish you could shed that awful baggage, but you don’t know how. God is the designer of transformation. Just as the caterpillar can transform into the butterfly, you can transform from victim to victor. Give him a chance.