I was going to post one of my Ocassionally Sunday-ish Hymns, but one of our four runaways from work returned last night & all I can think of right now is what happened to her.
She & three other girls ran Saturday evening. This one was returned after calling 911 in Wichita & reporting that she had been raped. They took her to the hospital, got her checked out, did a rape kit & took her to another facility for the day. She was returned to us at 11pm, badly beaten and bruised. This girl is just 14.
She has a history of running, in fact this was the second time she'd run away since she was admitted on Wednesday.
One of our girls reported to staff on Saturday that the other four clients were planning on running, for which she was raked over the coals by her peers. I wrote her a little note just letting her know that even if she took some crap for what she did, it was right. After reading that, she buzzed downstairs & asked me to come talk to her. She had tears in her eyes & said "thanks."
Sometimes, with trying to keep the routine running & putting out the small fires that crop up continuously, I forget that these are children and not shorter adults, going through the same crap every kid goes through. Except that some of these kids have no family worth speaking of & half the time, the family they do have doesn't want them. They need me to go out of my way more often to tell them "good job" or "you have improved so much since the first time I met you" or "you are a great girl."
Anyway, please keep the girl who was raped & the other three still out there in your thoughts & prayers.
2 comments:
All of 'em are on my prayer list. Big hugs to you, too!
Thanks Leslie. That means a lot.
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