We All Belong

I came home from work one afternoon.  As you turn into our neighborhood you pass a church.  In the parking lot of the church, I noticed a group of young kids walking home from school.  I watched them and realized that there was a group of kids beating up on another kid.  I pulled into the parking lot quickly and drove toward the group of kids.  The one kid was on the ground with his hands wrapped around his head and the other kids were around him taking their turns kicking.  I stopped the truck.  The kids turned and looked at me with expressions on their faces of complete innocence.  The lone kid on the ground pulled his hands from his head and looked upward with a look of relief on his face.  I asked the kids what was going on.  The loudest one of the bunch (the bully) tried to plead his case, while the rest of the kids remained silent.  I helped the kid being kicked to his feet.  I asked the bully if he was prepared to take a lickin' from this boy that he had been beating on.  Of course he didn't like that idea at all.  I sent the lone boy on his way home and kept the group behind.  It upset me that a group of kids would beat on one kid.  I voiced my frustration to them and asked them to please leave the boy alone unless they were prepared to go one on one with him.  I then sent them on their way.
When I was in seventh grade, I had the same thing happen to me.  It was only because of my now sister-in-law that I came out of that without a bloodied up face.  I was thankful that she was there that day for me.
I looked at our children, yesterday, and thought about how important each of them really are.  There shouldn't be any one individual that is being bullied by someone else.  In our youth it is all about popularity and jealousy that we find ourselves in less than good situations of picking on or bullying another.
I am trying to do those things that will positively influence those people around me.  My desire is that our children will want to do the same kinds of things. 
Becky has repeated this saying many times over to our children and I believe that it applies to everyone.  "It is easier to have friends than it is to have enemies."  I believe that statement with all of my heart. 
Our lives should be centered around making life for others as simple as it can be.  Our example of tolerance and acceptance might be one of the best things that our children see us do. 
I visited a man who some people might find quite odd.  I love this man a great deal because of his purity of heart.  It becomes apparent to me with each passing day that I need to forget about what a person may say or the way a person may act and focus on who a person really is.  Heaven only knows how crazy some people think I am. 
In the grand scheme of things, we are all very important!