As unsettling as all this has been for me and my few remaining colleagues, it has been much more difficult and threatening to many of our clients. My caseload is heavily weighted with people who have experienced not only the continuing trauma of poverty, but who also have extensive histories of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and the intense issues around trust and abandonment that go along with trauma.

Mindful of some of our past chats about these folks, I'll keep them in my prayers (by first names if you want to PM me a list). But I also want you to know that MANY people whose stories I have heard have gained an ENORMOUS amount of strength and trust from even one, brief, casual encounter with a caring person who made sense to them. So I am SURE that your work with them has planted many seeds in their fertile, inner-health garden, that can and will grow. I'm sorry you will not be up close to see it, but how and when it happens for them is in their time, and our Lord's.

~Susan