Gracie Girl Blog

I’ll be honest, when I saw the headlines about children being separated from their families at the border, I turned my head. It was heartbreaking, but also so far away and out of my control, or so it seemed.

After a few days of it being in the news, I began to realize it wasn’t just a few kids, but hundreds. I got angry. WHO in their right mind decides tearing kids from their parents is going to bring any sort of justice?

I watched and read some posts on Instagram from Ashley Lemieux  (@theshineproject is her tag, I recommend following her. She has a really hard story but finds joy despite her grief and she has an inside scoop on how America deals with children). Anyway, I started to get angrier…

What is happening on the border is a reflection of how America and its leaders view children. It’s a small part of a jacked up child welfare system.

America’s foster care system is awful. It puts kids who have been through abuse and tradgedy into unpredictable and unstable situations, offering little to no compassion for what these children have suffered. Not just young kids are hurt, teens are left knowing when they hit 18 (no matter how mentally ill, poor, or lonely they are) no one is obligated to care, and often times, no one does.

Sadly the injustice doesn’t end there. School shootings this year finally came to light as a relevant issue, but I’ve yet to hear about major bills being passed to limit gun availability. I’m for mentally stable people having guns either for protection or for sport. I’m not for mentally ill psychopaths being able to purchase them.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized the issue on the border isn’t far away, it’s  pretty freaking personal. 

I have minimal experience, and I know I truly don’t have much to complain about, but in case you thought these issues were far away too, here’s some of what I’ve seen:

I have a friend in foster care. She was in an abusive home until she was 15 and while her being separated from her parents was the BEST possible thing that could have happened, there was no immediate relief because everything was unsure and it took a lot of time in court and a lot of tough interview sessions to get her to a stable home. Even then, foster care is rarely forever and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t worry about her. She questioned for a long time if she belonged and I know there are thousands if not millions of kids wondering the same thing. America can do better.

The last fire drill of this year my friend was super nervous. I asked her why and she said it was because the shooting at Parkland started with the fire alarm being pulled. We shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of fear, and truly it is easy to get into schools with guns and these shootings felt like they could’ve been at my school, too. America needs to do better.

I was driving to the barn this morning when I realized— I’m hurt by this. I don’t feel like my country cares about me. America is doing an awful job of caring about the next generation, heck even just caring about JUSTICE. 

The most infuriating thing was seeing a news headline that some politicians were claiming it was Biblical, that separating kids from their parents was good. *gag cough barf* I don’t know what Bible these goons are reading because it is NOT the same as mine.

In case you were curious about how faith plays into this, here are some FACTS:

• God loves kids
• God loves family
• God is compassionate and welcome everyone, especially if they are in danger
• When Jesus was crucified he was separated from his father. If a result of hell is being separated from family…then…what does that make America look like? What does that make the most powerful politicians look like? #ouch
• God wants you to know you belong in his family. There are also millions of people here wanting to love kids who don’t feel like they belong.

America’s kids are fed up and I just wish every politician in Washington knew they have a generation growing up who is more than ready to vote politicians butts out of office if they continue to put B.S. ideas into action.

Note: I’m not targeting either political party, I’m talking about everyone because there have been mistakes on all sides and though no administration or branch is perfect, I haven’t seen much hope come out of  political decisions recently. Also, I’m not very educated on politics, but I feel like this more than just a political issue. 

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the LORD is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 30:18

Where sin, terror, and evil abound— grace, justice and hope abound deeper. 

I’m praying for all the kids living in fear, no matter what fear that might be, that they may experience the comfort and love of the Lord. I’m praying the hearts of politicians change and that they care less about statistics and money and more about people. I’m praying for leaders in my generation who will be willing to enter the political scene and change things.

I’m praying the next generation of kids won’t ever feel forgotten by their country.