let me set up the scene: we're at the park swinging and kicking the soccer ball around and this kid (around henry's age) comes over with another little boy and a toy puppy purse... with a baby duck inside. awww, so cute, we're all instantly in love with this sweet teeny duckling! and then we're increasingly horrified watching this kid rambunctiously swinging said adorable BABY duck in the carrier; round and round, upside down, spinning spinning, fast fast fast. we can hear the frantic chirps and i say, "be careful with your duck, it's only a baby, you don't want to hurt her or make her sick, she's fragile." i'm totally worried for this creature, we all are. he walks to the teeter-totter, being slightly more fragile, and we go about our game of keep away from missy.
we sip water and start to pack up, and we notice the boy is back to swinging that poor animal, when henry pipes up, and in a very concerned and unsure voice says, "i'm gonna go tell him he needs to take better care of his pet." joey and i give each other an instant grin and tell him to go for it! cause here's the thing, our boy is so shy and timid and doesn't "do" confrontation (do any of us??). it must have really bothered him a great deal for him to muster the guts to go up to that stranger of a kid and speak up for that duck's well-being.
so brave buddy, man were our hearts beaming and proud. the kid, however, didn't care to listen so daddy stepped in and found his grandpa and there was a language barrier and i yelled (for the first time ever at someone else's child) because the littler kid who wanted so bad to play with this kid's duck, snatched up the carrier and swung it around at full force. "PUT THAT DUCK DOWN RIGHT NOW!", none of us could keep quiet. the grandpa was nice, and even though he didn't speak english he took the duck away and there was crying and we were leaving. i really think that kid loved his duck and was just "playing" with him, but like all kids, you have to learn to take good care of your things, or they break, or in this case possibly die (it was that bad). joey said: "it's a good thing aunt jaye wasn't here, she would have taken that duck and uncle steve would've punched that kid." i truly wished she was there (minus the punching bit).
we praised our boy for doing the right thing. that park was packed with kids and parents who watched and turned a blind eye, but henry was brave and he acted on his conviction and spoke up and found his voice. what a big moment for him! at dinner it was still all he could think about and he requested we pray for the baby duck. we did, we prayed for the duck, for the boy and for his grandpa.
his heart is growing, his empathy and his compassion and his voice, and we praise God for moving in our boy, and shaping his heart for the weak.
also, monday's can be spotty, but yesterday was such a blessing as we started our week, felt much more like a friday. i love spring!
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