......whose husband is an alcoholic that is waaaaay out of control.  He's getting very verbally abusive with her, and at times their kids, and has begun threatening them with violence.  She's at that point where she says she stays with him because she loves him and he's only mean when he's drunk, but her kids are being affected by things now.  The one is in the middle teens and just wrote a poem about her dad.  My friend read it to me and I just sat here crying my eyes out because she doesn't see what me and others around her see.  I worked with abused women for a long, long time, and was the victim of abuse myself, so I unfortunately know what she's going through.  There's not much I can say or do outside of pray for her and the kids, and keep reminding her of what's coming around the pike at them.  Please pray for her and those precious kids.  The kids are the ones that usually suffer the most in these cases.  They don't understand why daddy is being so mean and hurtful and start to think that it's their faults.  From the sounds of things, that poem the oldest one wrote kinda struck some chords in the mom because she did bring up the subject of kicking the man out of just packing up her and the kids and leaving sometime in the future.  Hey, at least she's thinking about it now.  That's progress, believe me.  I just hope that she doesn't wait until it's too late before she puts those thoughts into actions.  So, once again, please pray for her and those kids.  Pray that Our Creator will give her the strength and confidence she needs right now.  She's got some really tough decisions to make here in the near future.   And if you would, please pray that Our Creator will give me the strength to hold my tongue with that man and not do or say anything towards him that will set him off and make him take his anger out on my friend and/or those kids.  It's always been really hard for me to keep my tongue civil around men like this.  I want to tear into them and tell them exactly what type of low-life scum they are.  I did stand eye-to-eye with him a few nights ago while we were all on the pool deck, dripping off a little bit, and told him that if he EVER layed a hand on his wife or his kids that he had best turn himself in really quick, before I found him.  He laughed at me and told me I wasn't physically capable of doing anything to him.  Well, all I did was move my hand a little ways forward and pinched real hard on the inside of his thigh while I was looking him in the eye and saying, "Oh really now?  Do you want to test that theory out?"  I am FAR from a violent person folks, but, I will not tolerate abusers.   Soooooo, as you can see, my friend needs prayers to protect her and her kids, and I need prayers to not get stupid and try anymore stunts with that drunken idiot. 

Thanks a million!

Moki