Wednesday, November 16, 2011

It's Hard to Hug a Porcupine


It's hard to hug a porcupine, they really are quite prickly.

Your instinct is to turn around and run away quite quickly.

For if you venture close to one, there really is no doubt,

There will be a confrontation and some quills will fling about.


Yes, it's hard to hug a porcupine, or even to go near one,

You know what she can do to you- there's reason you should fear one.

Just when you let your guard down and you show her some affection,

She'll do her best to injure you, shoot quills in your direction.



Oh, it's hard to hug a porcupine, to cuddle would be silly,

And if you could avoid one, well, it would be wise to, really,

But if you have no choice to, put a leather vest and glove on,

Protect yourself most carefully if you've a porcupine to love on.



RAD kids are like porcupines, they seem all kind and gentle,

Until you try to love one you don't know they're temperamental.

As soon as you get close to one, to love, to be a mother,

The prickly porcupine comes out; they'll fight you like no other.



And it's hard to love a porcupine, to even want to see one.

It helps to think of all the things that caused your child to be one,

But still the daily struggle, when they hate you with a passion,

Soon it breaks your will to love and wears away compassion.



How do you hug a porcupine, when her quills stand at the ready?

How do you choose to love her?  And to keep your temper steady?

You arm yourself with righteousness and truth and faith and prayer,

And you trust the love of Jesus to teach your porcupine you care. 



10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17

9 comments:

  1. Wow! This poem says it all. The child's reactions and the hurt it can cause the parent. Who wrote the poem?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All my posts are original. Glad you liked it!

      Delete
  2. Lisa,
    Love your poem!
    Tears in my eyes!
    Yesterday for the fist time in my life met a mother with a daughter with R.A.D.
    My daughter is 13 now. It was wonderful to hear the mother speak about the same challenges we are struggling with.
    I felt so alone al theres years...
    Today started a blog in The Netherlands. Thanks for being a example for me!
    One question: is it oke to use your poem on my blog? If not i will take it of.


    ReplyDelete
  3. In needed to find this and read this today. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Lisa. Tears came as this poem brought the depth of my pain along with love and understanding that others too know of this RAD expeirence. Yes, how to cope when rage and hate and hostility come at you with every morning bright. How dear God can I endure another day with my RADish who 'hates' me --a loving nurturing Mom taken care of her every need... and although it's not hate, it's fear, it still is the experience all the same in the moment. I can recalibrate to self love God's love later--tho a bit. No amount of love gets through. I am here selflessly taking 'abuse' from the abuse instilled 'INSIDE' my little girl. Dear God, when love does come to these children through an adoptive mom and family, may they feel it and begin to trust and love their new, all loving mothers, through you. Amen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is such a great poem! We are in the process of adopting 2 kids diagnosed with RAD along with other diagnosis and I think I will fancy this up on Photoshop print it out and hang it on my wall. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love it Lisa, the poem and the meaning...
    Thank you for sharing it

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love it Lisa, the poem and the meaning...
    Thank you for sharing it

    ReplyDelete