Just when you thought it was safe....

Aside from the little run in with that truck, life with the teenage princess has been running pretty smoothly of late.

She is looking at her study options and career options, and thinking carefully about her subject choices for next year. She is working well at school (I won't say working hard because I'm sure she could do more!) and seems to be learning to get along with teachers, even the ones she doesn't like.

She has a lovely boyfriend, who is respectful, caring and responsible. Just the right type of boy to take home and introduce to your parents. Only we already knew him, and his parents, and his grandparents...the joys of a small country town!

We got word this week that the dress design she entered into a Teenage Fashion Award has made it to the state final, and she will be modelling her design next month in Adelaide.

Suffice to say we've been cruising along merrily, almost ready to sigh with relief that the dreaded years of teenage angst have come to an end.

Of course you know where I'm headed.....yesterday the wheels fell off....again....

Last week a boy from her class told her he loved her (via text). I'm not sure exactly what she said but I get the general idea that she didn't exactly let him down gently.

So now he's turned nasty. I mean really nasty. I can't repeat the names he has been calling her verbally or the venomous text messages he's been sending her. She has blocked his number. She is trying to ignore him at school which is difficult as he is in almost all of her classes.

I had to pick her up from school yesterday because she was so distressed.

I've tried to encourage her to deal with the problem, firstly by speaking to him and if that doesn't work to go to the school counsellor. She did this today and that seems to have made things worse.

I feel like we are back to square one. She doesn't want to go to school. She is coming home crying and upset.

But, unlike this time last year when she fell into a big heap, I'm pretty calm. While its not great to see your child suffer, this time I think she is handling it a little better. She doesn't want me to step in and take care of it, while she says she wants to run away, deep down I think she knows that she will be ok.

And I know she will. Because I am praying for her, and the Lord is watching over her. It's incredibly comforting to know that the Lord will always be there for her. He loves her even more than I do.

Lord, please watch over Stephanie as she deals with the issues she faces at school. I pray that she can learn from this experience and grow stronger as a result. I pray for the boy in question, I pray that he can understand that hurting Stephanie like this isn't going to make him feel any better, and inevitabley he is hurting himself more. I pray that Stephanie can deal with him calmly and tactfully, and that her friends will support her and care for her while she is at school. I pray that she will realise that she has you to support her, and that she can always rely on that.