The Distracting Injury

We recorded this one the way we usually do lately… riding down the road together.

In this episode, we talk about kids who are going through real, heavy things. Some of them show it in loud, explosive ways. You can’t miss it. It demands your attention.

But others… you’d never know just by looking at them.

As a paramedic, I’ve learned about something called distracting injuries. It’s the injury that’s so obvious, so intense, that it pulls all your focus. Meanwhile, there can be something more serious underneath that you won’t even find unless you slow down and take a closer look.

That’s exactly how it is in children’s ministry.

Sometimes the loud behavior becomes the distracting injury. It gets all of our attention. And while we’re focused on what’s visible, we can miss the deeper hurt… especially in the quiet kids who never act out but are carrying just as much, if not more.

We talk about learning to see beyond what’s on the surface.

We pray for real discernment, that God would help us not just respond to behavior, but minister to the heart. That He would use us to speak healing into both the loud and the silent struggles.

Because every child has something going on beneath the surface.

And if we’re willing to look a little deeper, God will let us be part of the healing.