Tonight I went to an awards assembly at church for my children. They are in a program in which they memorize Bible verses. And as they work through books they receive a ribbon for each book. Ginny got a blue ribbon because she finished the first book. Benjamin got an award for participating. Samuel is too old to participate. But when Jonathan stood before the audience he didn't even receive a reward for participating.

I couldn't understand why he didn't receive one. I kept waiting for them to say his name but they never did. Finally his group sat down. I was concerned that he would feel left out as everyone sitting next to him took a good look at their rewards and probably quietly commented about what they received. I thought he might feel isolated.

My motherly instinct of protecting my innocent young was kicking in. I didn't want him to be upset. I remember when I was young. I was very timid and shy. When I moved to a new school in the sixth grade my timidity became dominant in my life. I had fears of rejection, embarrassing myself and being made fun of. My two friends were the least popular in the class. And I always felt I would never measure up to the "as good as" level of everyone else. I would smile a lot if I felt rejection starting to happen as a barrier. Such feelings were branded on my emotions and I wanted to make sure Jonathan wouldn't have to go through that.

As soon as the service was over I quickly began searching for Jonathan and then the teacher. I went to the teacher and asked him if my son should have received an "Awesome Job" award and he said he should have, that the teachers thought they may have missed someone. So the teacher and I went to Jonathan who wasn't acting upset but was probably wondering what was going on. He "officially" congratulated him and gave him the reward. Jonathan was satisfied. When we got out to the car he was happy and said he was glad he finally got a reward for being in the program. When we got home we framed it and Jonathan hung it in his room. Not a tear was shed. I'm glad because such things can be heartbreaking for children. I know, I know. They're gonna have to go through hard times in life and those hard times can make them stronger. Well, I'm glad it didn't happen this time.