Brokenhearted

Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

This past weekend was Prom time for my little Hannah. All the preparations were made to make her as beautiful as possible. She really didn't need the help in that department but still it was like preparing a bride for her wedding. I won't go into a lot of detail but the long and short of it is that after all the preparations and excitement the night ended up being a disaster.
Her boyfriend left her alone most of the night and treated her like dirt. Didn't even sit with her at dinner. He spent the whole night with his friends.
After Prom Hannah went to spend the night with a group of girls and was due to come home sometime Sunday. She called at 3AM crying and wanted us to come pick her up. Her mom and I got in the car and drove out to the boonies to pick her up. She was a mess, emotionally.
Sunday was a very hard day for all of us. My little girl has had her first break up. Yes, she and Jordan, who we had begun to love like a son have broken up. The reasons and the justification for him treating her so badly is not important. Sunday I was mad and wanted to do evil things with a knife and his genitals. Today I am sad. Hannah has gone from being a heap of quivering humanity to being steaming mad. God help him! Hannah is on a rampage and wants answers.
My girls have not done the normal "date everything in pants" thing. We have raised them to take dating very seriously. We have set very high standards for them because we believe that God set high standards. We do not cheapen the courtship process. Sure, we expect broken hearts but we also expect our girls to be treated with dignity and respect. Their parents have not always modeled love and compassion and respect but when the layers are peeled away, we love each other deeply. I love her more than I ever thought possible and sometimes I just want to grab her ravage her in public. I refrain of course.
I want guys to desire my daughters. To only think of them when they are together. To only think of them when they are apart.
I am trying to put aside the amount of money spent for this event for it all to end so badly. Anson and Nicole bought her dress while they were in New York and we spent grocery money to get her nails done and Ashley did her hair and makeup. When she stepped out of the car people stopped and gasped. One little girl ran up to her and hugged her and asked her if she was Cinderella. She was drop-dead gorgeous and I was so very proud to be her father.
The emotions are running wild in our house right now. We spent our first night watching "Dancing With the Stars" without Jordan and I was a little sad. We all feel like we've lost a member of our family.
Part of me wants to beat him until he bleeds, the other part of me wants to invite him back and have him eat dinner with us again. He had, in a very short time, become a part of our family.
I saw him as possibly someone who would be in our family for a long time. Possibly a son-in-law. Regardless whether it was by marriage or not, he was to be a member of our family. We often joked about if he and Hannah broke up that Jordan would still come to our house to see us. I guess we will see.
Maybe the time will come when both of my girls and their husbands will sit in our living room and watch "Dancing With The Stars" or possibly watch reruns of Ashley on "American Idol" but right now we are nursing broken hearts and it's hard to see the happy part of the journey. We have to lean on the God Who promises that he will "heal our broken hearts" and allow Him to "bandage our wounds". As I gazed at the pictures taken on Sautday I find myself amazed at the beautiful young woman Hannah has become. And she's not just pretty on the outside, she's pretty inside too. I can't help but think of the time we were in Kroger at Halloween time. We turned around and Hannah was gone. All the sudden we hear "yook, ya'll, I found me a witch!" He she came down the middle of Kroger with the biggest cardboard witch I had ever seen. All we could see was her fingers and her little feet from behind the thing. That's Hannah. She always picks up more than she should. Most people would say, "This is too big" or "It's too heavy". Not Hannah. She'll pick it up and in her stuborn but sweet way, carry it to the destination. She doesn't give up and she doesn't settle. Some young man out there will probably learn the hard way that she is "spirited". I plan to warn them but it won't do any good. She'll flash those beautiful blue eyes and laugh that heavy laugh and he'll be caught. Caught in Hannah's rope.
Take care Jordan. You will be sorely missed. I don't feel like killing you today. Be Grateful!

Blessings
Allen