...Can Be Conflicted

We hoped to be out the door by 7:30 a.m. and were only 5 minutes behind. Normally we leave at 7:45, but today we needed to get going earlier. Upon awakening, I didn't think I'd have time to take Max on our usual morning walk, but I knew that I needed the walk more than he did. (I have to admit, having a very excited dog greet me early in the morning always puts a smile on my face!) Ben and Laura were really cooperative in getting up and getting going when Max and I returned. That's always a nice thing. Mostly I felt calm in anticipation of trying to meet with the Dean of students before school started. I needed clarification. Ben needed reassurance. I needed reassurance.
Yesterday during lunchhour, Ben was pretty much assaulted by a high schooler, while that guy's goading friends looked on with smirks and added threats to the situation. The guy knocked Ben to the ground, straddled him, pinned him, and hurled lots of profanities and threats in his face. It came about due to another situation, but was basically unprovoked. It happened quickly without much fanfare or aftermath, although a few students were near Ben and witnessed it. Fortunately, the school counselor came upon the scene moments afterward and could tell that "something" had happened. At that point, Ben fell apart. He filed an "incident report" with the Dean, and in a short while 3 students were suspended.
For the rest of the day, I was obsessed with gathering all of the details and with processing those details with the school counselor, the "attacker's" mother, with Ben, with other witnesses, with Gary. After school, Ben was so shaken that he didn't want to go back to school today. Understandably so. As life goes, Gary is currently far away in Kansas.
I didn't get to meet with the Dean of students, but instead met with the counselor. We talked for an hour and a half. It was a helpful conversation, mostly. But what happens after these 3 guys return to school? That's what we don't know. I don't want to overreact. I don't want to underreact. Gary and I have talked 4 or 5 times since the "incident." You know, it could be worse.
All I know is that my kid and my husband and I signed a "Behavior Contract" at the beginning of the school year. It's like a vow. We take it seriously. It doesn't feel like the families and boys of about 4 other households do.
We are concerned. This mother's heart is conflicted. For now, I'm trusting that the hard things of life, whatever they may be, are places in which our Heavenly Father molds us and shapes us. For someone who used to homeschool, hoping to avoid situations like this, I am strangely emboldened and even grateful that my son has the opportunity to see God's grace in action. How does Scripture teach us to respond? What does the gospel tell us?

Ben is already moving past it. While he expressed (24 hours ago) strong dislike, even hatred, for this "attacker," by bedtime he was praying for his enemy, praying for his blessing and for God to help him......Amen. He went to school this morning pretty carefree. Maybe he'll even feel that way on Monday. Hebrews 12:14-15
Ironically, that high school boy attends our church.