You may never know how much of an impact you're making on someone until they're backed into a corner and you're the one they call.

A few months ago, I met a 15 year old girl whose world had fallen apart so long ago that she now just seems to be floating through life on top of a dark cloud in order to avoid the constant rain. Her mother passed away 4 years ago and her father left when she was too little to remember him. She now lives with a woman who she calls Grandma, but is actually the 3rd foster mom she's had. The first family got tired of trying to get her to open up and were tired of bailing her out of "jams" and the second family got pregnant with twins and decided that Amber wasn't going to be a good influence on them and they needed to reprioritize. 

Sometimes loving people who we don't understand, is harder than we think. And most of the time, being able to hand the shovel to someone else, is easier than digging just a little bit deeper to reach the person who's been buried alive.

Amber and I had only met in person a few times and most of our communication has been through emails. So when I got a call from the police last week saying that they had put her in the Juvenile Detention Center and she wanted to see me, I was absolutely stunned. I never realized that I had become a person that she trusted. I didn't know how much of an impact I was making until she was backed into a corner and called ME for help. I cannot tell you how humbling that is. 

Amber had been busted for stealing...for the third time. But that wasn't really her issue. She's fighting for attention and has been for most of her life. For someone her age to feel alone and abandoned is one of the most crippling things one can experience. And attention gives you confidence, even if it's the bad kind of attention, you still feel wanted. Which is something Amber doesn't feel.

Amber needs a mentor. And for right now, I am filling that need. But I am also trying to teach her that she can't wrap up her identity and physical and emotional well being in another person. The power to be who she is, comes from inside herself and no one can take that away from her unless she lets them.

So I guess the moral of this story is; pay attention. People who are hurting and searching for hope, may be watching you and you are probably influencing them more than you may ever realize.