From the front lines...

Every day I work with children who suffer abuse and/or neglect. Over time one builds a tolerance to the destruction and the ugliness which seems to grip the world in which we live. Often time I keep my emotion in check by compartmentalizing issues of the parents or care providers, the injuries to the children and the mess that is left in its wake.

Today however, was full of too much human suffering. I could not sweep the emotion away quick enough. I sat with a mom of several children younger than 12. The children were removed from her care because of neglect. In my gut I would not be surprised if this case end in the termination of parental rights, there are three fathers involved and that in and of itself creates a huge challenge. I have compassion for mom, however she needs to engage in services and demonstrate to the court that she can keep her children safe and attend to their health, safety, and welfare. I am tough on these parents and they all have a tough row to hoe when I enter their lives. I have seen a number of them be successful and reunite with their children.

We met for over three hours today. In that time this mother transformed from the mother who could not provide for the children to a victim of domestic violence. My heart ached for her as she shared with me how she was kicked, beat, battered, and bruised. It is incomprehensible the amount of pain she endured for years.

It was past noon as we finished and my day turned to an 8 year old little girl who I have known for the past three or four years. She has been sexually molested by a grandparent, neglected by her mother and father, tossed from foster home to foster home and back and forth between her parents. I knew her live would continue to be a struggle, at best. Today I learned that her step grandparent, who was considered a safety factor, beat her over the weekend. I am sick. I am tired. It never ends. The pain, the grief, the loss, the destruction.

Oh, God! Where art thou? How long must these thy children suffer such pain and grief at the hands of those who have a stewardship, and an obligation to love and protect them? I struggle. I stumble. I continue to press forward, to fight the good fight, and to shed light on darkness! God Bless and keep the children tonight!!