Sunday, February 15, 2009

Little Girl. Pink Shirt. Big Tears.

Today in church the Sunday School kids got up to sing a song - "We Want to See Jesus Lifted High" with all the arm motions and the whole nine yards. The usual suspects were there. The shy ones, the talented performers who you know will be performing long into their adult years, and the ones who are craving attention and exaggerating all the movements. Not looking too cool, but making some great footage for the graduation highlight reel. The kind you know will need to be peeled off the wall the rest of the afternoon.

And then there was the little girl in pink.

I never saw her face. She was in the front row, right beside the hyper kid in the Bears fleece vest who definitely got all the chuckles from the congregation.

But she stood there, her head looking straight down at her tennis-shoed toes and her hands in her tiny pockets and her silky blond hair falling covering any facial expression that might reveal her heart. And she didn't move a muscle the entire song.

After the song she slowly moved down the steps, slower than anyone else in the group, and she wiped obvious tears from her eyes, head still down.

My heart just ached. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened in the few minutes before an obviously well-rehearsed performance that would make her feel so seemingly invisible. It was almost like she didn't think we could see her because she wasn't looking at us. Like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. Like perhaps, it already had.

After the song, the kids gathered for the children's sermon and she had her back to pastor, continuing to dry her tears with her little pink shirt. I had all I could do to not run down there from my perch in the balcony and whisk her in my arms, stroke her hair, and tell her how much He loves her. To tell her that nothing will separate her from His love. To tell her that yes, everything will turn out all right.

But obviously her parent(s) were somewhere in the congregation - she didn't get there by herself, and it certainly wouldn't be appropriate to do anything at that point, because perhaps her mother was thinking the same thing. I just prayed that she had a loving embrace waiting for her.

I looked for her after church and never found her. I wanted to tell her how pretty she is and how much Jesus loves her. That she can be a princess or a ballerina or anything she wants to be. But I never saw her again.

My heart still breaks that little hearts break and don't understand why.

I left church praying that the rest of her day goes better and that she feels some comforting arms around her.

We have all at one time been that little girl in pink.

I hope the next time I see her, her eyes are focused upward.

Will you pray for her with me?


Tea today: Republic of Tea Beginners Mind

10 comments:

Beth E. said...

Bless her little heart! Of course I will pray for her. :o)

Eternal Lizdom said...

How very sweet... I remember when I was pregnant with my daughter and my husband and I sat in church and there was a mom and her 6ish year old daughter in front of us. And the mom was mad at this daughter for something. And the girl kept begging and apologizing and trying to hug her mom... and the mom kept this really stern face on the whole time and kept rebuffing her advances and rejecting her. Over and over and over. I would smile as much as I could at the girl, in as reassuring a way as I could muster. I never saw them again.

But it served as a sign for me. A sign of the type of parent that I believe God intended me to be.

So maybe this little girl was a sign for you.

BTW- I have your interview questions ready but have now lsot your e-mail address. Yes, I'm really good at this.

Gitz 'n Jo said...

Oh, it was hard not to get tears in my eyes picturing that little girl. Broken little hearts start way too young... I would have had the same impulse as you!

Beth in NC said...

Poor baby. I pray her parents comforted her and showed her bunches of love. Poor little thing!

Vodka Mom said...

yes I will. right now

xoxoxox

Sherri Murphy said...

I just said a prayer for her.

ISO (In search of) said...

So sad. I'm sure you are not the only one who noticed. Let's just hope it was that she was very very shy and didn't want to be up there. I said a prayer that she will continue to be reached by caring people such as you. What a blessing that is.

heartafire said...

Yes I will.

Anonymous said...

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Pete Wilson said...

Praying right now!

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