Like a Child

I have a confession...I hold grudges. There, I said it. (Insert sigh of relief.) Without going into a lot of detail, here are some of the things I'm having a tough time with right now:

• People are verbally attacking my family. Whether it's in the name of "friendship" or the "Christian spirit," I don't know. The point is, there are better ways to address someone's shortcomings.
• I'm struggling to find friends who are real rather than looking out for themselves. 
• A man I went to church with has been arrested for crimes against a child. Enough said.

As a Christian, I know well that the world is filled with evil and meanness. That doesn't make it any easier. I'm struggling with how to forgive, how to love, how to trust. Is it possible to move on from changes that are so devastating? In a book that I've been reading, I came across a passage that just clicked. 

"But a child, so recently come into the world from the void of creation, can be more resilient than the strongest man, more strong willed than the hardiest woman. A child is like an early spring bulb that carries all the resources needed within its skin for the fist push through soil towards the sun. And just as a little bit of water can start the bulb to grow, even through fissured rock, so can a little kindness give a child the ability to push through the dark."

-Kathleen Kent, The Heretic's Daughter

I need to be more childlike. I need to trust intelligently, forgive endlessly, and love unconditionally. It's easier said than done, but my goal is to get to the sun. If you're a praying person, say a prayer for me. I need all the help I can get!