When she graduated from Regent Law a few years ago, Danalyn had a heart for women, children and families. Now she is a tool used by God to restore them all, working as a Family Violence Prosecutor in Maricopa County, in Phoenix, Arizona, she details her work below.
When I first meet people they ask what I do. I get this a lot as the wife of an associate pastor in a large church here in Phoenix. When I respond that I am a Prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, people from Arizona give me the ‘Oh, I’m sorry’ look. The best part is when I follow it up with “and I work in the Family Violence Bureau.” The response is then usually something including “Oh wow, how do you do that?”
Most people do not expect that I like my job once they find out what I do. The reality is, I cannot imagine being in a different position. On a daily basis, I get to protect children from their abusers, put their killers in prison, help adults out of abusive relationships (even if they do not think they want that), and make families a safer place. Not many people can say that do that. So, when I finish off a description of what I do, the listener has a better idea of why I love my job.
Granted, it comes with its bad times and hard times. During an on call week I can have calls to go to the hospital because there is another baby or young child that has been abused. During the day can get several police reports to make decisions on regarding charging. I see the worst part of society every day, and I deal with the people who insist on hurting the innocent. It is a depressing job, even if it is fulfilling. I have come home after an autopsy and cried for the next three days because of what an abuser has done to a child. There are pictures in my head of abuse I see in photos and it often makes me wonder if God cares. I get angry and the abusers/killers and angry at God.
My job makes me thankful for my husband. Not just because he does not beat me. He is also the voice of hope and optimism in my life. I am very cynical and I do not trust people. When a person walks down the street I size them up to guess what crimes they have committed and what their drug of choice is. Not very compassionate for a Jesus follower, but reality. So, Scott brings me back to the reality that is the hope and love of Jesus in a fallen. He is not a naive to what I see, and he understands the reality of life outside his hopefulness in people. But he does remind me and challenge me to believe in the hope of change in people, even child abusers. We do not agree on everything, but at least we can talk about it. I am thankful for this. Scott is nothing of what I imagined I wanted in a husband, be is everything I needed in life.
Someday I would like to go from being a Family Violence Prosecutor to being a Judge. But until that day comes, if it does, I am proud to be a Prosecutor, putting abusers behind bars and making sure that justice is done for children here in Maricopa County.
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