Perspective

I've been thinking a lot about perspective...how everyone views their own world through their own perspective. And everyone's perspective is completely different based on their experiences and views. It is hard to fully understand someone else's perspective and it is hard to sometimes relate when perspectives don't match up.

There was a tragedy in our community this weekend. It was unthinkable, unimaginable. Not one but two teenage boys in our community took their own lives. The mom of one of the boys is a teacher at my kids' school...his dad the principal at the school the boy attended. Reading his obituary today, it seemed like it could be the obituary of any of my or my friends' kids at age 15. A great kid...active in sports, active in his school, well-liked, outgoing, lots of friends, active in his church youth group, loved the Lord. But this 15-year-old boy had some sort of unimaginable pain...pain that he felt there was only one way out of. This makes me scared for my kids, for other kids I know and love. What can we do? It is heartbreaking. It is perspective-changing.

We can't expect life to be easy, fair, or fun all the time. But this is heavy stuff. This is not random, this is close to home and it is scary and unbelievably sad. As moms sometimes, it often feels like these are the "hard" times, when our kids are young and growing and learning, potty-training and having sleepless nights from bad dreams. But trust me, I realize now this isn't the hard stuff. The hard stuff is dealing with life and death choices, and helping our kids see that they are loved, that they are worth it. I have no doubt that the parents of these boys taught them those things...and that's what makes this even scarier. I am not trying to be a downer...just explaining what my perspective is these days. I know these two families and the whole community would appreciate any prayers sent their way.