I need a daughter who won't drive me crazy!

I need a daughter that won't drive me crazy
A girl who’s listen and actually obey!
I need a daughter that won't drive me crazy
Some girl that knows the meaning of a
Hey now it’s bed time.

(Words adapted from John Cougar Mellencamp’s “I Need a Lover”)

I really love my daughter, she’s great. She would just be greater, if she did what she was told when she was told. Is that to much to ask? Probably! The list of reasons she can find not to do as she is told, or put off doing it, is endless.

I’m sometimes convinced that our sin nature is the most creative part of us. We just naturally know how to rebel, to try and get things our own way. We justify not doing what God has clearly called us to do with just as many creative reasons as my daughter has for not doing what Mum or Dad tells her.

We, like my daughter, feel completely justified in this rebellion because we are not really disobeying, we just cannot right now because…

Child in the Midst (Prayer for children at risk), VIVA Network. www.viva.org

Taken from the booklet, Child in the Midst (Prayer for children at risk), VIVA Network. www.viva.org

1.According to UNICEF, millions of children run away from home because of violence and abuse. 185 million children under 18 years of age live in Latin America and every year six million suffer extreme violence and some 80,000 die in their own homes. [page 12]

2.The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 150 million girls and 73 million boys have suffered some form of sexual harm. [page 13]

3.It is estimated that there are 700 million children of primary school age and more than 121 million do not attend school, mostly in South Asia and sub Saharan Africa where poverty prevents them. [page 18]

4.50 million babies have started life without a legal identity. With no documentation to prove how old they are or even if they exist, they are likely to be faced with discrimination and lack of basic access to services such as education or health care. [page 19]

5.27,000 children die every day because of hunger or preventable illnesses and 100 million children live or work on the streets (UNICEF). [page 24]

6.More than 140 million children are malnourished and 5.6 million die every year through starvation. [page 25]

7.The International Labour Organization (ILO), estimate that 12 million children are victims of trafficking each year, being moved from one country to another to fulfil selfish sexual needs. In India, children are exploited and end up working as slaves to pay off debts incurred by their families. [page 25]

8.Approximately 33 million people were living with HIV in 2008; 2.1 million of them were estimated to be children under 15 years of age. [page 30]

9.Around 17.5 million children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Millions more have been affected, with a vastly increased risk of poverty, homelessness, school dropout, discrimination and loss of life opportunities. These hardships include illness and death. [page 31]

10.Of the estimated 2 million people who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2008, 280,000 of them were children under 15 years old. [page 31]