The Skate Park

The boys are all involved in Royal Rangers and they are LOVING it. Brian is co-commanding Hayden's club which is 6-8th grade boys. There is one boy in particular who is a challenge EVERY week, totally disrespectful and of course other boys follow his lead. I am going to call him Bill. Bill comes with a neighbor every week and we have never seen his parents involved in club.

Well, last night I checked in with Brian after club and he told me it was a rough night and Bill actually walked out of club. Call me cold, but I do not have patience for that kind of behavior. Since we had driven separately, I told Brian I was going to gather our boys and head home.

As I walked into the church skate park Bill shoved a MUCH smaller boy to the ground, who happens to be Hayden's Best Buddy. I told him to knock it off and that he can't behave that way. Well, the smaller boy had brought a skate board and a scooter to the skate park. Bill then asked the smaller boy if he could ride his scooter. The small boy said "NO". I thought to myself "GOOD for you for standing up that bully, he doesn't deserve to ride your scooter."

I ended up staying at the skate park for another 30 minutes, partly because I was afraid to leave the little guy alone with Bill. Later, as I was talking to one of the kids I noticed that Bill was riding a skate board, shocked I was trying to figure exactly who it belonged to. Then I noticed Hayden just standing around. My son had given his own skate board to Bill.

On our drive home I asked Hayden how Bill ended up with his skateboard. He quickly said "Momma, I learned off Veggie Tales that sometimes the only way to stop a bully is to love them so I shared."

It was quite a slap in the face for me as I was harboring resentful feelings towards this young boy, who probably doesn't know any better. And next to me is my son who is wise beyond is 11 years, showing God's love and mercy!