What most people don't realize goes on inside the walls of a school.

A student slumps down along a wall at recess. She seems different. She is not playing, not laughing, not smiling. The principal notices and imagines what this 13 year old is dealing with. Boyfriend, peer pressure, parents that don't get it. Middle school is challenging. That is for sure.

The principal sees her the next day in Spanish class. She is preoccupied with destroying a piece of paper. Everyone else notices how preoccupied she is. The teacher gives her a cue to stop. The girl turns her attention to twisting her hair. She is lost in her own world. The principal worries that this girl might be lost in this world.

The parent of the girl calls two days later. The girl had a plan, she told her mom, to work out a problem with a friend. The mom has been worried about the friendship dynamic. The girl told the mom not to worry, she had it taken care of. 

Something didn't settle right with the mom, and she went to go talk to her daughter.....and found her. Her plan was to end her life. By the grace of God, the mother found just in time. 

The principal can't find her way out of the darkness now. She almost lost one of her own. She felt that something wasn't right. None of the other school type of things seem to matter compared to life, to living. She has failed at what is most important, protecting her own.

What does she tell herself, her staff? Do you ask every child that seems not like herself if she has a plan to end her life? 

After much research, I wrote a biography on Donald Trump when I was young and pulled it out recently. One of our jobs as responsible citizens is to help ensure that history doesn't repeat itself. Well, Donald's history as a whole would be a national embarrassment to have repeated. He is a paradox of contradictions, a flagrant misrepresentation of the values this nation was founded on, and such a bad choice that if he were to win, we may begin applying for our work visa in Canada. 

The fact that Trump has gotten as far as he has in this political race suggests that our nations democratic system has major flaws that should be the real issue worth solving at the heart of any great candidates campaign.

The belief that what you anticipate will be on the other side meets you when you get there.

An anxious mother waiting for her child's safe return home.

A house that keeps those you love safe.

The car that takes you across town each day and along busy highways to visit family and friends.

Trust is the cloak of faith that we apply to overcome the shroud of fears and doubts we so easily wear.