A friend and I were having lunch after church on Sunday and she asked me a question that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. In light of the Penn State incident, we had previously discussed that morning as members of the prayer team, the actions we needed to take if a child told us someone was sexually molesting them.
I asked her what she would do if a child came to her with something like that. She gave some great answers.
Then…
She asked me this question:
“What would you have wanted someone to say to you?"
I’m not sure I was prepared for it as I tried to choke back my tears and finish my Thai food. She was asking a deep question I’m not sure I have ever thought about until that moment. I was immediately brought back to a small child, remembering times I myself had been molested.
What would I want them to say to me?
As I continue to think about the question, a few things come to mind.
I would want someone to hold me tightly in their arms and let me know that I was safe. Not with their words, but the feeling of being safe with them.
I would want the protection of my father, with the belief that as long as he was there no one could hurt me.
I would want them to tell me I wasn’t a bad person and that even though I was going through this abuse I did NOTHING to deserve it.
I would have wanted someone to tell me about this man named Jesus. How it hurt him to know that I was being hurt. How he loved me with an everlasting love and that I could accept his love, despite the pain I was going through at that moment.
Though I know all of this now I can’t help but wonder how different things would be had I known then. Not that I would take any of it back. It has made me who I am today. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t wonder.
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