Struggling son
I have listened to WCIC for a long time, and my prayer life has always been present but perhaps not as strong as it should have or could have been. Two years ago, my son began dating a young lady. I was not real thrilled (chalked it up to being a mom and not liking that I was not the center of my son's heart anymore). However, as I watched, I noticed she was very clingy, and did not speak to my husband or I when she was over. I did not say anything to my son, but I noticed that my son had gotten angry, aggressive, and just had to spend every minute with this person. This young lady also made him show her his text messages, and demanded to be able to have access to his Facebook page.
Then at this time, there was a young teen at the school my son attended who had taken his own life. The school had counselors at the school. My son had an outburst (crying, and anxious), and the teacher sent him to the counselors. They called me to tell me that they had just done an evaluation on my son and they felt that he needed immediate help for severe depression. I was in denial and was sure that whatever my son was experiencing was going away. This was the beginning of a horrific journey that I could not have traveled without God nudging me through songs on WCIC. I talked to my son that day on the phone with the school counselor; he assured me he was fine. To a mom in denial, that was all I needed to hear.
Later that day, the school called me to say that my son was in the office for what appeared to be an anxiety attack and I needed to come get him. He told me that a teacher had confiscated a notebook that he wrote private stuff in and read it to the class and began to make fun of him. The notebook was filled with poems about suicide. I immediately got him into see a counselor; we met him twice a week for about a month.
One evening, my son was on the phone with this young lady, and I heard him crying--really sobbing--in the basement. I went down to see what was wrong, and he was lying on the floor in the fetal position, crying, and begging the person on the other end to stop. I got him off the phone, and he was very angry with me because I took the phone. The young lady on the phone was screaming very horrible things at him, telling him to kill himself, the world would not miss him, and she was leaving him because he was a loser. I also noticed he had cuts on his arms and legs. He had been cutting himself, I knew he needed professional help, and I knew he needed to go to Methodist Behavioral unit. He begged me to let him go to school the next day and then he would go to the hospital. When we got to the hospital, I found out that this young lady had told my son that he should kill himself and she wanted to be there to watch him. He was devastated to have someone he felt so strongly for say these things to him and that he must really be a horrible person. They admitted him; that was the hardest day of my life as a mom.
On the way home, I had no idea what to do to help him. I just wanted my son back in my arms, and I wanted to make it all go away. I was listening to WCIC on the way home, and I heard the song "Praise you in this Storm". I just began to cry and I realized I could not do this on my own. I focused on our son and asked God to help us through this!
A friend of mine gave me a copy of the prayer Footprints in the Sand. I prayed, listened to the uplifting music on WCIC, and visited our son twice a day, listening to WCIC there and back. I found so much peace in the songs that were on the radio, and there is always a message that I know God is sending to me. It took him a long time to get over this girl and realize that he had been a victim of verbal and emotional abuse and that he put this person over his family.
Today, he has severe anxiety and a low self esteem, but what he and I have gained is a stronger faith, a greater and much closer relationship, and a love for Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Mercy Me, and Steven Curtis Chapman songs. I could not have gotten through this without God showing me that he was always there for us and he wanted us to reach out to him for help. This message would not have gotten through to me if I did not listen to WCIC. I am very thankful for this station. More importantly, I am thankful for the return of our son and his handsome smile! God saved him, and he is truly a wonderful blessing to us!
