Book Review - Words

It's been a long time since I've read a book which has so grabbed my attention that falling asleep before getting to the end is not possible.  This book - was the book.  Words is a fiction story written by Ginny L. Yttrup about a little girl who is being horribly abused.  Her Mom abandons her and she hangs onto hope that her Mom "has amnesia" and will return soon to rescue her.  She doesn't leave, afraid of what he will do to her - and even more afraid the day she chooses to leave, will be the day her Mom comes back for her.

I was not surprised at the end of the book to read the author's comments and find she shared a similar life story to the little girl in the book.  There are some things you can not write about that accurately without having walked the road.  Was it a difficult read for me?  Yes - I could feel the little girls pain, hear her heart's cry.  I understood her words, and I understood her silence (read the book).

Yet, at the same time, the story of Sierra - the young woman who comes across the little girl in the woods, is also the story of who I choose to be now.  Someone who does not turn a blind eye to abuse, someone unafraid to walk into the middle of it and be the Jesus little girls need to see.  Someone who cares enough to hurt, to cry, to do whatever it takes to bring freedom to little girls enslaved by men (and women) who use them for their own sexual and monetary gain.  I do not say these things to lift myself up - but merely to share with you the passion in my heart for little girls like Kaylee - in desperate need of someone to make them feel safe.  In desperate need of a chain-breaking, freedom- granting, shame-lifting God who loves them far more than they know.

I encourage you to read this book.  It may be fiction - but it is truth.  The feelings Kaylee experiences, the abuse she suffers - ring true for all sexually abused and used girls.  If you have a heart for girls like Kaylee, you know a Kaylee (and all of us do whether we realize it or not), or you are a Kaylee - read the book.

Kudos to the author for speaking the truth,  sharing her heart & story and being unafraid of addressing this issue.  I pray it shines a light in a very dark place for someone out there and leads them to Jesus.