My host mom talked to me about it yesterday and I encouraged her to reach out to his teacher and ask her to address it with the whole class! I shared my thoughts as if I were a parent or an educator. I told her that if she and he doesn't speak up, it will just continue. But in the end, nothing felt like a solution.
This morning when I woke up, I processed it more and realized that what was missing was Jesus! I thought about what I would tell my kids. I would do all the things I told my host mom, but I would have also pulled out my Bible and we would have talked about how Jesus was hated and despised! We would have talked about his death and how people wanted him killed! And we would have talked about how when we accept Jesus into our hearts, it doesn't matter what other people think of us, because Jesus thinks the world of us. It breaks my heart that so many kids are suffering from bullying and don't know that the God of the universe loves them and sees the pain they are going through!
When I was a kid, people used to make fun of my finger. I was born with only half of my index finger on my right hand due to some complications during pregnancy. In light of this, I always remember my mom telling me that Jesus made me special. That I am like no one else and he chose me to be special. Kids can be so cruel, but I would just tell the kids who would make fun of me, that I am special. As I got older, people stopped noticing, but I never let the kids make fun of me for it!
I just wish that he knew this in his heart. I wish he knew that he is special in other ways and that God created him just the way he wanted him. I wish he knew that he doesn't need to change and that he doesn't have to be good at sports.