Reality Check...

So today I had an interesting experience of just plain and simple getting a good look at the side of my work that I don't often see from my standpoint. I always hear about what the girls have done in the past and see how they react at the ranch, but it is one thing to hear it and another to see it in a typical high school/ middle school setting. I watched a movie for work today called "Thirteen" which is incredably disturbing, but potrays some of the girls' lives I work with perfectly. It makes me sick to my stomach to realize what goes on in the middle and high schools and yet I know I have had a lot closer contact with than I even realized.
Today I also spent most of the day at work on my "day off" getting trained for Non-violent Crises Prevention Intervention. Basically the ability to do holds and get out of situations where a girl may get violent in order to protect ourselves. We are blessed to usually have a very compliant group of girls, but you never know what can happen. I am so thankful for the team I work with and all the support we give each other.
I think one of the hardest parts of this job in some ways and yet one of the most important is to be completely nonjudgemental and not let anything shock me. We were promised today that we would leave here with our innocence gone and that I have no doubt about. I am thankful for the opportunity to learn so much about life, but better yet to have the opportunity to work with these girls and give them a second chance. I continue to pray for the strength and ability to love the girls as Christ does and pray for families.