Tens of thousands of people in my community are heartbroken about the story that has ripped through our community this last week. A little five-year-old boy, AJ Freund, was reported missing and an all-out search took place. There were prayers and a vigil and hopes that he was safe. Only to find out that he had been beaten to death and buried by his parents.
I am not sure what to do with or where to take all my negative emotions about this. I usually try to avoid feeling my pain, but I have come to learn that I need to pay attention to it.
All I could do is write a prayer to God as a lament over this situation.
A Lament for AJ
Lord, I come to you and beg you to hear my prayer. Heavenly Father, my fortress and protector, I come to you in the name of Jesus, your son, the one who was judged so that I can be safe in your presence.
My heart is heavy with grief. We have been ripped apart by what has happened in our community.
A little five-year-old boy, neglected and abused, was never given a chance to shine.
I trust in you God and know who you are. You are a father to the fatherless. When I am anxious and afraid, feeling threatened, overcome and feeling unsafe, it is your peace that comforts me.
God protect all the vulnerable children in our community. Nurture and hold all the children of our world. Give them a joyful childhood in a steady home — a playful spirit and wide-eyed wonder for life and the world.
Help all children to know that they are safe and that they have a God who loves them deeply.
Heal us adults Lord of the wounds we carry from our childhoods. Redeem our hurts. Bring to life new parts of our lives.
Turn the hearts of parents to their children. Give us compassion, love, and winsomeness in raising our children.
I am so pissed and angry at these parents of AJ.
What kind of piece of shit man does this to their kids? Raising precision children in a dilapidated house with the stench of feces and allowing strangers riddled with drugs, through the doors. Pleading for AJ to come home when you knew the grave you buried him.
And the mother, I hesitate to call her that, could only cry out “I didn’t do it,” and it was all an act, a show to try and get away with it.
They were trying to cover up what they had done. The little boy they had beaten in the bathtub and buried in a shallow grave, left his body there for a week while search crews scoured the area hoping to find him alive.
The search dogs could only find his scent in the trunk of your car. All the helicopters flying overhead was unnerving, and it was all for nothing.
God, why didn’t you work through the authorities to stop this? All the warning signs where clear that this was not a safe place for kids.
Film crews show Police searching the house for evidence. They come out with a shovel that has fresh dirt on it and put it into the back of the van.
The outpouring of love, compassion, grief, and support for AJ is too late. The flowers and the stuffed animals on the lawn is a nice memorial but what’s the use? Toys are to be loved and played with, not left on the lawn.
God, thank you for listening to me. I know you hear my complaints. You have seen all the details of this tragic event. You know all the pain your children face, and I know it breaks your heart. Justice is in your hands and yours alone.
God, you are steadfast and loving. You went to great lengths to save each of us.
Even amid my pain and confusion and anguish, I know that you are God and I am not. You are the source and the fountain of life. In your light do I see the light and in your life do I have life.
I will still praise you, the maker of heaven and earth. The one who longs to gather all your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing.
You are my fortress, the Rock that was pounded by the sea, yet stood firm, and in whom we stand in victory.
RIP AJ
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
Job 13:15