He handed me a note that said "I'm running away."

After reading Dan’s post this morning I was looking forward to commenting on it until the topic switched from the hypothetical into my immediate life as my 8 year old adopted son came to me in the laundry room and handed me a note with three words on it “I’m running away.”

“No” I said “You are going to go rest on your bed and I will be there in a few minutes so we can talk.” I finished my load of laundry, prayed for wisdom and sought God’s heart for this child. He is a passionate, deep feeling person, prone to extremes and not easily dissuaded when he seizes onto an idea. One who needs over and over again the message from the child’s book Runaway Bunny, where it says no matter how far he runs or how he hides, I will find him and bring him home because I love him and he is my child.

Today when I sat down with him, I looked into his eyes and I saw those two persistent questions again “Am I valuable to you? “ and it’s companion “Am I worth the trouble?” I took this burly young man into my arms and told him yes. Yes, and yes and yes again! I reminded him that God built our family, that He placed each of us in special positions and for special reasons and that He never makes mistakes. I assured him that no matter what happens, he was my son and an important part of the family.

Then we invited the other kids into our discussion and talked about running away from problems and how God has shown us that it only makes them worse. We decided that it was NOT all right to run away (either physically or emotionally) in our family and talked about all the reasons why. It was a good discussion and one that I hope will add another solid piece to the foundation of their adult lives. We didn’t get to talk about the truth that Jesus died for us, as an answer to these two questions, since the three little girls broke out in a princess fight and ended the discussion. But this afternoon, while we are making Christmas Candy I will approach it again and bring the gospel truth to the table. And in my mommy mind, if any of them choose not to run away from a trial because of the lessons of this day, it will be worth so much more than one more load of clean laundry.