Christye Gibbs
Nov 1 · 2 min read

A Stone Of Hope by Jim St. Germain

This book has probably stuck with me the most this past year. I work for Boys Town and he came to visit the kids. He used to be in Boys Town, so I thought I would look at his book. I connected with it more than I ever thought I would. He was born in Haiti. I’ve been to Haiti. He moved to the US and went through trauma. I’ve been through a lot too. He allowed the bad situation to turn him angry and mean. He had penchant for fighting. He was homeless for a time. He somehow wound up being sentenced to Boys Town instead of to prison. New York used to send juvenile offenders to Rikers at 16. He was still angry. He was still fighting. No matter what he said or did, the staff at Boys Town loved him through it. They patiently forgave him time after time. He said it was the staff he raged against who changed him. He said saying “okay” meant you heard the person, not that you agreed with them. He graduated, went back to the negative environment, stayed focused on school and work, worked at Boys Town, and went on to work on legislation to advocate for teenagers in the system, and he wrote this book. It just really struck a chord with me. I’ve had kids cuss me out, tell lies about me, flip me off, throw things, run away, fight… Tonight, I had a girl make fun of me and rub food in my face… Sometimes, it’s hard to show them love. It’s hard to be patient and forgive them. It seems like it’s a giant waste of time. God’s in control. Everything happens for a reason. What others intend for evil, God uses for good. Revenge is the Lord’s. Trying to keep my head right while dealing with them isn’t easy. It helps to remind myself that I don’t know what they are thinking and feeling or everything they have been through. I have the privilege of making a difference in their lives and shaping them into someone better. Perhaps they will grow up to do something big with their lives and they will look back and appreciate everything I did for them. Who knows where they might end up.

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