Give Me Strength

Well the past day and a half has been extremely draining on me. More of an emotional drain than a physical one. My best friend's sister has moved up here with her 3 kids and is now living with him . She is down on her luck and needed a place to stay while she gets back on her feet. There is nothing wrong with this and my friend has stepped up to the plate and done what any good brother would do. He has accepted her and the kids in to his home. To help paint this picture my buddy is married, has 2 kids of his own, 4 dogs (3 labs and a mutt) and 2 snakes. Needless to say the house is now officially bursting at the seams. Now many of you may be saying to yourselves "that's not too bad", but I'm not finished. We have since learned that his sister is addicted to prescription pain medication and has been diagnosed as being bi-polar. In the 3 months she's been in town he's had to bring her to the ER 3 times so far. He is trying to get her the help she needs and has her enrolled in an intensive outpatient therapy program to help with the addiction. Needless to say he and his immediate family really needed a break from this situation and have left town for the Christmas holidays to spend time with his in-laws. After speaking with his sister's counselor it was decided that she should not go back and visit as this is where a lot of her problems begun. So he has taken his family and his sister's kids with him on vacation and left his sister here alone. Being a good friend I offered to check in on her from time to time to make sure she wasn't completely alone during the holidays. This is where my being emotionally drained begins. Last night I went to check on her and discovered she wasn't alone. She had a "friend" from therapy at the house. Come to find out this individual is a drug dealer and only 19 years old. Of course I didn't know about this kid's history when I called and talked to my buddy, but once I told him he asked me to go and tell this individual that he wasn't welcome in his home. I went back to the house and his sister had stormed out with this piece of shit kid in tow. She wouldn't take my phone calls and apparently threatened to go on a binge because she felt her brother didn't trust hergo figure and was trying to control her life. Anyway, around midnight she showed back up at the house and we talked. I asked her to come and stay with me during the evenings while her family was out of town. She refused and left. Well around 4am I hear a knocking on my door and sure enough it's her. Now, I was glad she was OK as I was worried she was going to do something to hurt herself, but today has been trying. I drove her to her therapy and then to the clinic where she was ordered to submit a urine sample for a drug test. We won't know the results for a couple days. She has decided to take us up on our offer of staying here in the evening with us until her family gets back in town. I am just praying that God will give me the strength to handle this situation. So, if any of you happen to be praying please throw in an extra one for my family, my friend's family and his sister. Good night.