Say Hello to our friends, the Coleman’s. Jeremy (Dad) is active duty Army currently serving overseas. Shamberly (Mom), who also guest-posted for me HERE, is a Homeschooling Stay at Home Momma of their two beautiful children. We met when we were stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. Our family and their family connected right away! Some people come into our lives and quietly fade away, but the Coleman’s have come into our lives and left their footprints on our hearts. 
Shamberly is the kind of friend everyone needs. She doesn’t just know the word of God, she lives it. She isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, as we all fall short. However, she is not the kind of person who ignores a need. She doesn’t sit back and say, “Well, not my problem.” If you have a need, she is always there with a hug, a shoulder, an ear, or a remedy. I don’t know how I would have made it out of my house in Washington without her. She came up to the house, dug right in and helped me clean, sort, and get rid of a LOT of junk! She also took my kids to her house when the packers arrived so they could play and be out of the way. I never asked her to do this. She showed up on my doorstep and said, “Give me your kids.” LOL! I am telling you, she really is one of a kind! She likes to tease me about my clutter and I like to teaser her about her cereal in her refrigerator….true story! LOL!
My youngest son (Nemo) loves her daughter (Laurelai). They are the same age and were the best of friends. Nemo loved Sunday school with Laurelai and all their playdates! It wasn’t long before Nemo told me that one day he and Laurelai were going to get married. We shall see what God has planned for the both of them, but they sure are the cutest. On a side note, if this happens, the Coleman’s are stuck with us FOREVER! **Insert maniacal laugh**
Laurelai has some medical conditions. One is her seizures which has effected her eye sight. Shamberly had thought that her eyes were getting better until around Christmas. She noticed she was having more trouble. She made an appointment at the eye Dr and took her for an exam. She had assumed this would just be an adjustment to her prescription; however, Shamberly wasn’t quite ready for the terrible news she was about to receive. Her beautiful baby girl was going blind in one eye while the other eye, the good eye, was getting worse. Shamberly was told that Laurelai needed a year of intensive therapy for her eyes. Part of the therapy was for Laurelai to wear an eye patch over her “good eye” in hopes of strengthening the other eye. The optometrist hopes this therapy will prevent Princess L from going legally blind in one eye. Shamberly is bearing this load while Jeremy is deployed overseas.
A few days ago, Laurelai found herself in a situation where the kids she was with were teasing her about wearing her eye patch. They had not seen her wearing it, didn’t understand the need for it, and began teasing her by calling her names like “One-Eyed L” and “L the One-Eyed Pirate.”
Before I continue, these kids come from Christian homes.
When Shamberly picked up Laurelai and Big Brother Garrett from their activity AT CHURCH, Laurelai told Mommy what happened. Garrett confirmed her story and told Mommy that the kids would not stop teasing her even after she had asked them to stop numerous times. Instead, those kids continued with the name-calling and got louder. The adults that were around at the time also did not stop the teasing either.
On the ride home, Laurelai just sat in the back seat crying over the kids she thought were supposed to be her friends. She said, “I HATE having to wear a patch, Mamma.” Shamberly’s heart hurt for her. Now Laurelai is self-conscious and embarrassed to wear it around anyone outside of the home now, feeling inadequate, ashamed and afraid of being teased again.
Parents, I ask why? Why do we all too often turn a blind eye to bullying? I get it that kids will be kids and I’m sure some of you, just as I was, ridiculed or made fun of sometime during our childhood. They joke around and have fun BUT kids should be taught the difference in a joke and making fun of someone. They should be taught when to stop as well. If something is making someone uncomfortable, they should stop! When they do not, Christian kids or not, it is bullying plain and simple.
My hubby read Shamberly’s post on Facebook describing Princess L’s teasing. He immediately got up, cut out a circle from a piece of paper, decorated it, put it over his eye to create an eye patch and posted it on Shamberly’s post. When Princess L saw it, she was excited to see my hubby wearing an eye patch reading, “We Love Princess L.”
So we have decided to do something to support Princess L and show her that she needs not feel inadequate, ashamed and afraid. I am asking ALL of you to show support for Princess L as what is shown in this picture:
This picture contains Princess L’s grandma, some of her co-workers and my hubby inserted at the top. We want to show Princess L she is BEAUTIFUL and she is loved exactly the way God made her. God loves Princess L and a little girl should not have to feel this way. So please share this post. Take pictures of yourself, friends, family, ANYONE with an eye patch. It can be made out of paper or just about any material you have laying around. Post it on Twitter or Instagram and tag me and her Momma so we can light it up for a beautiful Princess! Use the hashtag #patchesforlaurelai My Twitter handle is @RS4Christ and my instagram is @RaisingSoldiers4Christ.
Also, please take a moment to share this story with your own kids. Explain to them that God has created each one of us perfect in His image. Children have so many adjustments throughout their lives as it is. Laurelai is adjusting to looking different because of her eye patch, her seizures and also life without Daddy now. We know God has His hand on this situation and she will grow with it. Please take a few minutes and help us support this beautiful girl. I promise you it will be worth the smiles on her face and the love she will feel!
In Christ,
Laura
The post Patches for Laurelai {Light up Social media with Eye Patches} appeared first on Raising Soldiers 4 Christ.