Do I make a difference? The asking of the question indicates a doubt. I think about my job and sometimes it is hard to tell. I don’t pull kids out of burning buildings; I don’t whisk them out of the house of an evil abuser. I don’t fix any cuts and bruises inflicted in anger.

God willing, I will never have to do any of these things. But if these are all the things I don’t do, then it becomes hard to see what I accomplish. Many of the families I work with are not in crisis. Most of the children are healthy and strong. Most of the parents do all they can for the welfare of their children. So how do I make a difference?

My work is measured in the lack of statistics. I am the impartial third party that a parent needs to talk to. I am the measuring rod that gives parents a gauge to raise their children. I am the person in their life whose sole purpose in their life is their well being. My difference cannot be measured.

I do my job without recognition so that there will never be a burning building to rescue a child from. There will never be an evil abuser. There will never be cuts and bruises inflicted in anger. My difference is that if I do my job well, you will never hear my name on the evening news or in the morning paper. There is little instant gratification and there is no fanfare, just the smiles on the faces of little kids. The difference I make will last a lifetime, because if even for a brief moment in these children’s lives I gave them hope.