Trying to understand God's ways...

Yesterday morning Josh and I woke up to an early phone call. It was Mrs. Lowe. She is the 6th grade math teacher. She was calling to tell me that one of our students, Camenron Knowles, had drowned. Apparently, he had been at the Cahaba River with some of the other kids from his group home and two of them got caught in the current. One of the older kids, Chavez Clark was able to save one of the younger boys but he couldn't reach Camenron. The rescue team has been diving in the river trying to find Camenron's body but have had no luck. We have heard that the river is really rough where Camenron was and that there is no telling when or even if they will find him.

Camenron was the same kid that I blogged about a few months ago that had gotten into trouble when a group of other kids jumped him and he fought back. He really just got dealt a bad hand. I guess sometimes I just don't understand why things are the way that they are for certain kids. Camenron was 13 but he was still a kid on the inside and he had been through so much in life. I just think that it's not fair.

I know that it is not our job (as believers) to judge others for their actions and I really do try not to do that but sometimes I just get so aggrivated at people who pretend to be followers of Jesus Christ who very obviously walk to their own version of the scripture. There were so many people at this school who didn't care about Camenron at all before this accident. They didn't want him here because he caused trouble and they couldn't look past the outer appearance into the fact that he was just a kid and he didn't know any better because he never had parents who took care of him or taught him right from wrong. He did the best he could. It just really stinks to see those same people who were talking about how they couldn't wait for Camenron to be kicked out of our school so that they didn't have to deal with him anymore, being the ones who are crying and sobbing and can't control themselves.

I guess that my main question for God is...Is Camenron being held accountable for his actions or is he still considered as a child in the eyes of God? See, Camenron came from a rough background and I don't have any idea what he's been through in life but I do know that he doesn't have parents or family, he lives in a group home (orphanage) called Triwell, and the kids who live in Triwell have to have some kind of criminal record. I don't know what he did or how he ended up there but I do know that even though he played tough, he was still a kid who needed love and guidence and didn't ever have either.

James 1:26-27 (New International Version)
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Our kids this morning were a mess. Most of them didn't even know about what had happened until they got to school today. I spent my morning with the group of kids who spent all day with Camenron everyday. They were so shocked and sad and angry. It was hard and I did break down a few times but I tried to keep it together because I had to be the grown up that told them that everything will be ok. For some of them, if not most of them, this is their first experience with loss like this. They cried and sobbed and held onto eachother. We passed out tissues and hugged and talked. They made posters to send to Triwell (his group home) and they talked about the field trip on Friday and how much fun Camenron had.

Well, I guess that's all there is to say about that. Please pray for the kids who were close to him and for his family (if he has one out there somewhere). Please pray for the other kids like Camenron who go unnoticed in this world.