Well, today is not such a good day for Fran. In fact, she is at the point of tears as she comes back to her office from a business meeting with her most important client. Closing her door, she plops in her chair and brushes away a tear that tries to escape. "Why did he say that to me?" she says out loud to herself. "Why would he be so cruel to me? I worked so hard on that promotion, and he shot it down without even listening to my idea!"

"Feelings hurt today?" Jesus softly asks, though of course he has no need to ask since he knows everything.

Fran is again reminded of his abiding presence in her life. "Well, I don't know if it's my feelings that were hurt. . ." she stammers; "I think it was the crass insensitivity and unprofessionalism of Mr. Andrews. He was unnecessarily brutal."

"Feelings are hurt, Fran," Jesus states. "Might as well admit it; nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone gets their feelings hurt from time to time."

“Well, yeah, I guess he hurt my feelings. I mean, I’ve worked so hard for that account and before this he liked everything I did,” Fran explains. “Now out of the blue he hits me with this response—so unfair, you know.”

"What exactly did he say?" Jesus asks.

"You were there, Lord," Fran replies, with a bit of frustrated sarcasm.

Jesus laughs. "Yes, but it would be good for you to repeat what has upset you so much."

Fran feels ashamed of her inappropriate reaction. "I'm sorry. Well, he said I had not researched this promotion adequately and he was not comfortable going with my idea until I did my homework."

"And what was wrong with that comment?" Jesus asked.

"What was wrong? I had an entire report backing up my idea. I did my homework. I always do my homework. That's what's gotten me where I am; everybody knows Fran does the job right," Fran responds.

“A bit defensive, are we?” Jesus quietly asks.

Fran doesn't like where this conversation is heading, so she suddenly gets busy with her work. "Nobody understands me," she mumbles to herself, all the time knowing it's not true. She’s not yet ready to give up her pity party!

As she's leaving the office that afternoon, her friend, Alice, pops in. "Hi, want to grab some pizza tonight with the kids?”

"Oh, Alice, I'm so glad you came by," Fran lights up. "I was going to call you and see if you could come over tonight. I need to talk with you."

"What about?" she asks.

"Oh, I had a rough meeting with Mr. Andrews. I need some advice," she replies.

They make plans for Alice to get the pizza while she picks up her children. After a time with the kids, some homework assignments, and a Bible story, Fran gets Drew and Alice to bed. Then the two of them settle down for their long talk. "Okay, let me have it," Alice says.

Tears start to come to her eyes again and Fran says, "Oh, it's probably no big deal but Mr. Andrews really let me have it today in front of everybody. You know that big promotion I've been working on–well, he said I didn't have sufficient research to proceed and to 'take it back to the drawing boards,' to use his words. He said there were too many unanswered questions."

Fran pauses and looks at Alice, waiting for her response, still fighting to hold back her tears. Alice nods and says, "And. . ."

"And what?" Fran raises her voice. "Isn't that enough?"

"Well, I mean, is that all he said?" Alice asks.

"Don't you think that was very rude and unprofessional of him? I mean, in front of everybody. . ." Fran says in frustration.

"Who was there?" Alice asks.

"His assistant, Bernie, and Jim from the Art Department," Fran says.

"Uh, huh," Alice cautiously responds. "That's not exactly 'everybody', Fran," she says.

"Oh, you just don't understand, Alice!" Fran is angry. "I guess you're thinking it was just an overreaction.”

"Come on, Fran, give me a break," Alice says.

"How about giving me a break and trying to be understanding?" she says.

"Okay, I want to be understanding,