Bully Trouble...Sort of

I picked up Mary Kate from school  the other day and I heard the words I had been dreading since she started school:  "Jordan was being a bully to me today."  Now admittedly I did not know it would be Jordan specifically, but I have been dreading this.  I am probably too overprotective, although I am not sure there is such a thing, but I wanted to go hunt down this Jordan person and give her what for...or go talk to the teacher...or I don't know...SOMETHING.

I controlled myself and what happened next is one of my proudest moments as a mom.  A moment that I would not have gotten to experience had I overreacted.  A moment where I saw my daughter not as a little girl, but as a christian who is starting to bear fruit...a christian faithful to the call to tell everyone about Jesus and love your enemies!

As Mary Kate started telling me about what happened, she mentioned that she asked Jordan to forgive her for anything she might have done, but that Jordan kept saying it was too late.  We talked about why it is that someone wouldn't want to forgive.  I told her that she probably didn't know Jesus if she didn't want to forgive.  Almost instantly, something changed in Mary Kate.  She no longer cared that she was bullied.  Her only concern was that Jordan didn't know Jesus.  She was heartbroken and immediately began rattling off several plans to remedy this.  I didn't think too much of it except that she wasn't feeling down about being bullied.

The next day I picked up MK from school and before I could even ask her how her day went she told me: "Mom, Jordan bullied me again, but this afternoon when we were at bathroom breaks and I had a chance to talk I told Jordan that the only people who get to go to Heaven are Christians and that if she wanted to go to Heaven then she needed to believe in Jesus, otherwise she would go to Hell.  I told her it is her choice and that she can go to Hell if she wants to, but she should choose Jesus because He is God! and she said that she didn't want to go to Hell.  And she was nice to me."  Wow....What 6 year old does this?  I know I didn't do that as a child...goodness, I have a hard time doing that as an adult!  It doesn't stop there...

Since that day she hasn't been bullied anymore.  Since that day she has been praying for Jordan to accept Jesus and for her family to find a "good church that doesn't teach bad things" almost every night.  On Halloween, one of our neighbors handed out little comic book evangelical tracks for kids.  They were super cute and me and Mike were very impressed with them.  They broke down sin and the Gospel...they were great.  So, two days ago, I picked up MK from school and she told me "Mom, I took that comic book that tells about Jesus and how to become a Christian to school and when my teacher wasn't looking I snuck it out and gave it to Jordan and started reading it to her some!"  She is consumed with building a relationship with this little girl and telling her about Jesus.

This last part of the story makes me tear up every time I think about it.  We were driving yesterday and talking about Jordan and MK mentioned that she hopes Jordan becomes a Christian soon.  I told her that she might or she might not, but that MK had played a very important role in Jordan's life.  I said that maybe she wouldn't be a christian right now or maybe never, but maybe someday she will remember and think back to when MK gave her the track and she might become one then.  Or maybe she will become one now and God will use her and when she looks back she will be so grateful that you were in her class and told her about Jesus because that got her started on her Faith journey to be used by God.  When I said this last part, MK looked up at me with tears in her eyes, and said "You know what, that makes me so happy that I am crying tears of happines!"  The joy that it brought her to see her friend (yes...i said friend now, no longer bully) start to show an interest in Jesus and the thought that she might become a christian was overwhelming for her!  Amazing!  Have I mentioned how much I love that girl?  How proud I am of her?

On the flip side...how many of you are feeling a little guilty now for not having a fraction of the concern for your non christian friends as MK had for hers....oh, if you didn't see that, both of my hands went up.  To live in such total abandonment to Christ like her that I would "pray for those who persecute me" and "love your enemies", that I would put my desires and hurts and feelings behind me and worry more about the spiritual health of others.  That girl is teaching me a thing or two...For sure!