July 25
Scripture: Josh 1:5
Source author: Elsi Dodge
July 25
Never Alone, No Matter What! For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. —Joshua 1:5
Nine-year-old Daryn shrieked in fury. Social Services was moving him. Again. He’d felt safe in his current home, he liked being in my class, and he was about to lose it all. No wonder his fear came out in anger. In an empty conference room, I held him close, trying to protect myself from his flailing feet and hands, while he screamed threats and obscenities. As he tired, the spaces between his shouts became longer, and I started inserting my own comments: “Some kids . . . who know they’re leaving my class . . . decide to make me mad . . . so I won’t like them anymore.” Daryn froze. “Does it work?” “Nope! I still love them forever.” He collapsed into me, sobbing. I rocked him until he quieted and put him on the bus with a hug. I never saw Daryn again. But I hope and pray he remembers that his teacher loved him, no matter what.
In trouble, in joy, in sorrow, or in danger . . . we are not alone. — Elsi Dodge —