Mama Seay, that is.
The news reports have been full of recent stories of young people who have been bullied, teased, or embarrassed about their behavior. The tragic response that some young people have chosen has been suicide.
As a graduate of Patriot Academy, you know my emphasis on holding onto your golf ball – maintaining your integrity. We spend the entire week of PA discussing the importance of protecting your character and avoiding the negative consequences of doing ill-advised things. Many of you have even been required to earn the return of your golf ball through the public humiliation of singing a Veggie Tale song.
I will continue to hold you to the highest standards of behavior. That’s my job. I’m a mom. It’s what we do. Better to have you sing at PA for your golf ball than to read about an indiscretion that the entire world gets to be in on.
But, there is another side. Some of you will drop your golf ball in the future. Or, you will be ridiculed for something that is not funny. Or, you will have something come out that is so embarrassing that you have no idea how you will survive the humiliation of the exposure. It happens. Some of God’s greatest biblical characters dropped their golf balls from time to time. Moses was a murderer. David was both a murderer and an adulterer. Their sins caused them great distress.
Should you find yourself in this unsavory circumstance I want you to understand something. There is no sin or circumstance that the Lord cannot redeem. You will not die of embarrassment, even though you may wish you could just sink into a hole in the ground. If the thought crosses your mind that the only way out of a situation is by taking your own life, you need to seek immediate help.
When my children were teenagers, we had a rule. If they were ever in a situation where they should not be, they had a “get out of grounding free” card if they would call home and ask us to come and get them. The idea was that we never wanted them to be so afraid of the punishment that they put themselves into greater danger by getting in a car with a drunk friend, or worse.
So, listen up. Here is a new Mama Seay rule: If you find that you are in a situation where you feel you cannot handle the consequences, tell me or someone you know you can trust. I promise a “get out of singing free” card. I will not ask you what you were thinking. I will not tell you I told you so. I will hug you, tell you how precious you are to me, cry with you, and remind you that the Lord is bigger than your circumstances. I may even throw in some stories about stupid stuff I have done myself, just to remind you that you really are not alone.
Suicide is a very permanent solution to a temporary problem. If the thought crosses your mind, get help immediately.
You are loved,
Mama Seay
