Is it possible?

I am sitting watching Becka do gymnastics, listening to my music and beeming with pride for my oldest who never ceases to amaze me with her driven, motivated personality. There is a girl on her team who has been Becka some attitude, calling her names and being "mean" like kids can do. The first Becka told me about it, the human mother in me wanted to strangle the little girl. I sat on it, contemplating what makes kids (and adults) act such ways. I exained to Becka that I never see this little girls mom, just a nanny and suggested that maybe the little girl was acting out of loneliness. When this girl continued to call Becka names I encouraged he to tell the little, "I'm sorry you feel that way but I still love you." we rehearsed it over and over so she would feel more comfortable responding. I didn't hear much about the meanness after that till the last couple weeks. Last night Maddie did something she very evidently learned from Becka and Becka watched Maddie get in trouble for it and Becka's hands went up to her mouth. When I tucked her in we talked about how our words and actions effect people around us and how Maddie may have never done it if she hadn't witnessed it from Becka. Becka then brought up this little girl and how she and all the girls are always nice to her so how did she learn to be mean. I tried to exlain the possibilities and I encouraged Becka to "model" love to her and maybe she will pick it up and be nicer. These lessons are so difficult for kids, especially when the adults don't quite "model" these things.
I was sitting there, watching Becka's team workout and the human, protective mom in me wants to scowl at this little girl who has been "mean" to my child. And then it hit me! What if the reason she is mean to Becka is because she is jealous of Becka whose mom is there, face glued to the window almost every work out, cheering her on?  This is a child where I have only seen mom once since we joined this gym. A nanny drops her off and then picks her up.  The thing is, its not like the other girls' moms are there also. Out of 6 girls on the team, I am the most consistent in staying and actually watching.  There was one other mom who used to stay but has 2 other young kiddos and is preoccupied with them the entire time. Her work schedule has required her to also now have a babysitter bring her daughter to gymnastics.  I am the only parent glued to the window watching.  I am probably a freak but I love watching my girls at their individual activities.  It is just so therapeutic and energizing.  Even if I have Maddie with me, which I do most of the time, we are sitting right by the window and she is usually busy playing with something.
So I'm sitting here with this "a ha" moment from God and I'm watching the girls.  I watched as their coach was helping this little girl with a bar skill and it looked as if this little girl was crying out of frustration.  It was then that I realized that I have enough love to be a cheerleader for each child on Becka's team, and most particularly this young girl who hasn't been very nice Becka.  Is it possible that all she needs is a little love?  As I 'm thinking this, she walked up to the window and looked at me, looked down at my arm with the IV and pointed to it.  She was the first one to walk up to not to long after I got the midline and boldly asked me what it was.  I was caught off guard and tried to simply say its called an IV and its how I get my medicine.  With that she walked off.  So, her pointing to it today wasn't like she just noticed it.  She has looked at it several times.  I noticed her eyes were red and puffy and I was then certain she had been crying and my heart ached for this little girl and I knew what I needed to do from here on out.
On our way home from gymnastics I shared with Becka my "a ha" moment.  She got very emotional about the situation and frustrated.  I shared with her that we needed to love her by being nice no matter how she treats us. I explained my internal struggle of being a human mom who wants to protect my daughter and not be nice but that I couldn't do that.  I explained that I felt this little girl was struggling with something and that we would love her through whatever it was going on in her life.  Becka was frustrated with the fact that she has been nothing but nice and this little girl still treats her unkindly.  It reminded me of a situation Chris and I have been facing for the last several months with someone in our church who has not treated us nicely, but went out of their way to hug on and be sweet to our girls but then ignore us and not make eye contact, or they spoke very sternly.  I was afraid in our conversations on how to deal with this situation that we had not modeled for our girls how to handle situations like this very well as we have expressed our frustration and hurt to each other, but we have also bathed this person in prayer and have continued to be nice to them even though its not recipricated.  Becka knew who I was talking about as she remembered the Sunday she noticed this person had said hi to her and Maddie but had said nothing to me.  She asked me that Sunday why this person hadn't said hi or even looked at me.  Its difficult! It so difficult to know she is dealing with this at the age of 6 and will continue to deal with it till God calls her home.  But we talked about how this is part of life and its part of the fact that there isn't a single person on this earth who isn't hurting or struggling with something.  Some people's struggles are more evident then others.    I shared with her that God didn't command us to love only those who love us back and that its difficult to love those that aren't nice.  We talked about how God wants us to love others to show them His love. We also talked about how we are all human, and none of us are perfect and so people make mistakes and sometimes our mistakes hurt others.  Wow!  What a big lesson for a little girl and her mommy.  You gotta love it when you learn something in the midst of teaching your own children.
That night Becka prayed for this little girl with her daddy on her own accord.  The next night she and mommy prayed for this little girl.  I pray for her when I think of her.
Yesterday, I got to be glued to the window with my headphones on, watching the girls work out.  There were 4 of them and I have to say it was there best work out ever.  Anytime this little girl looked over at her I gave her a thumbs up, or a smile, or some facial expression that showed I was on her side.  I did notice that she doesn't sit with the other girls when they actually get a moment to sit.  But I also noticed that the other girls were encouraging her and cheering for her as well.  There was a big difference in this little girls face yesterday and in my heart.  On our way home I asked Becka how things were with this little girl today, hoping she had noticed the change.  She said that the little girl was nice to her today. We vowed to keep praying for her.  I noticed that my anger and hurt was replaced with love and a determination to be Head Team Cheerleader!  Let me tell you, it feels so much better then the anger and hurt.  It nothing I did.  Its all God working through hearts, especially the heart of a sweet, tender hearted 6 year old.