Madison320web

“I’m just kidding!”
Susan Marquez
Every day, kids
use this phrase to
excuse their bad
behavior towards
others. It’s also
the title of a new
book for children
on the topic of
bullying by
Tina Lakey.
When asked why she wrote a children’s
book on bullying, Tina responded, “I love
kids. I teach children’s church, kindergarten
through second grade, and sadly, I saw
cases of bullying in our own church.”
Tina says it hurts her heart when she sees
children hurting other children. She went
home and asked God what she should do.
“I wrote the book in about three hours
on a Sunday afternoon. That was five
years ago. I held on to it, not sure what
to do next.”
Last year, the daughter of one of
Tina’s friends came home from school
crying. Her dad, who had pancreatic cancer, had died
on the child’s ninth birthday. After his death, kids at school told the child she must
have done something really bad for her dad to have died. “I’m not the most patient
person in the world,” Tina says. “I talked with a friend who had published a book to
learn how she did it. She advised me to be patient, and not be discouraged.”
Hometown MADISON • 13