Why we do what we do

Following is the letter I read at The Daughter Project land dedication ceremony.  It is from a sex trafficking victim.  Let me rephrase that.  It is from an amazing young lady who has survived and is moving beyond her past to help others.  I have had the privilege of spending a lot of time lately getting to know this young lady and let me say - I have been blessed.  She displays strength, tenacity, courage.  She is happy, joyful and brave.  Here's what Amira had to say about what we are hoping to do at The Daughter Project:

What an exciting day! I wish more than anything I could be there with you to celebrate the beginning of this exciting journey, that I know will not only change the lives of these precious girls, but your lives as well.
I want to share a little bit with you where I was and who I am now. You need to know there is hope for these girls.
Its hard for me to me to put into words what it was like to be trafficked. Looking back, I can see the hopelessness that overwhelmed my being. I couldn't imagine making it to 18, and most of the time I didn't want to. I was so scared of him, but I wanted him to beat me so I could feel something, anything. I was a shell, I had lost most of me on the inside but on the outside I pretended to still be me. What I could remember of me anyway. I remember thinking I wish he would just snap and kill me, so I didn't have to. I never saw my self as anything more than a junky, and would have thoughts of what I would look like in a ditch. I wrote apology notes to my parents that said, “If your reading this I'm dead”. I would hide them in my clothes so if he killed me, he couldn't find it.
Looking back, I can't believe I ever thought like that. Those thoughts seem so foreign to me now. Today I am a VERY happy mommy, wife, student, abolitionist, friend, club president, speaker, photographer and anything else I'll ever WANT to be. I am able to be who I am because 1 safe person came into my life and showed me love.
The daughter project is going to be the love that these girls need to break away. Anyone can build a house for these girls. But I know from everyone I have met there Jeff, Jennie and Tami this is going to be sooo much more then a house. This is going to be their home, their second chance. This will be where the go from survivors to overcomer's. This is where they will begin to dream, and you will have the honor to walk along side of them as the pursue them. Every girl will have her own story, her own dream, and her own future. You hold the key to help them unlock them. Thank You so much for your hearts!

Isn't she just amazing?  She truly is.  There wasn't a dry eye in the house after I read this (except mine because at that point, I was trying desperately to make it off stage and back to my seat without passing out - lol!!).  This is why we do what we do at The Daughter Project.  To see girls like Amira come out and be all God intended for them to be.  To break the chains, free the captives, set people free.  I can't wait to see what God is going to do in all of our lives as we pursue the call God has placed in our hearts.  I am blessed and honored to be working with the people of The Daughter Project.  I have made incredible friends and I KNOW it's all God.  On a personal note - God has used The Daughter Project to renew my hope in people, to give me some amazing friends who are always looking out for others.  To be surrounded by people who have passion and compassion for the hurting.  I can't say it enough - I am so blessed.

Thank you Amira for sharing a brief part of your story with us.  I love ya girl!

To hear Amira share some of her story on Girlfriendit radio - follow THIS LINK, scroll down to Thursday March 3 and click on the GirlfriendiT/GirlfriendiT talking to women on the mend link.  Click and it should download the mp3.  Sorry, I don't know how to insert it into this blog post!!

Said better than I ever could

Saw this blog post on a friend's status update on facebook.  Thought I'd share it with you.

The Grace of Trust - Michele Perry

Check it out - you will be blessed - I was.

Made to crave

Another free e-book I located was a 21 day journal from Made to Crave (it's a book).  I've ordered the book from the library but haven't received it yet.

Anywho - here's the thought for the day - I liked it and thought you might too.

"God made us capable of craving so we'd have an unquenchable desire for more of Him, and Him alone.  Nothing changes until we make the choice to redirect our misguided cravings to the only One capable of satisfying them."

Book thoughts

I picked up this free e-book recently.  It's on politics and Christianity.  I'm not a big politics person and in some ways, find myself on both sides of the fence.  Anti-abortion, conservative - yet find social justice very important.  Lean towards liberal on immigration, lean towards conservative in other areas.  Doesn't make me real popular with either crowd.  I consider it balanced and biblical - but that's just my opinion.  Anyway - here's some thoughts from the book Healing for a Broken World:  Christian Perspective on Public Policy by Steve Monsma that I found interesting.

"Fourth, Wilberforce and his fellow Clapham reformers worked for the greater good of society as a whole.  They were not, as an evangelical special-interest group, out to protect the narrow self-interests of their fellow believers or their social class.  They sought the common good, not their own welfare.  Wilberforce and almost all the Clapham group were people of wealth and social standing.  Yet time and again they took on the causes of the poorest and least of their day.  The Africans, who were the victims of the unimaginably cruel practices of the slave traders, were not fellow Christian believers and were totally dispossessed with no legal rights at all.  Nevertheless, Wilberforce and his coworkers labored for over twenty years to stop this abominable business.  They challenged the exploitation of India even though, if anything, it would hurt their own social class's economic wealth."

"The real issue today is not whether one is a Democrat or Republican, but whether one is committed to justice for all.  This means we must defend the rights of those with whom we disagree.  Suppressing their freedoms in the name of religion is just as wrong as for them to suppress ours."  - Ed Dobson

"But in their political activities, the Clapham group worked for freedom and more equitable treatment of others.  Their primary goal was not to protect their own religious freedom or to promote Christianity by the use of public polities.  Their concern was not to make Britain a great nation.  In fact, their efforts to end the slave trade and the purely exploitative policies toward India were seen in their day as weakening Britain economically and damaging it's great nation status.  Their concern was to be faithful to a God of love, who cares for all of his children of whatever nationality or race."

God is so cool :)

That's all I have to say tonight - God is so cool!  He's been moving, breathing, and in my face for the past week or so.  It's GREAT!  Not a bad thing at all.  He's reminding me of His calling on our lives, refreshing my spirit, leading me into His presence.  How lucky am I??  Seriously - it's been great.  And that's it - that's all I have to say.  What is God speaking to you this week?

What I'm loving Wednesdays

I apologize - I borrowed the concept from a friends blog.  I'll go later and grab the link up but right now, just time for posting.  For now though - here's what I'm lovin'!

The word....God is revealing himself to me in new ways.  I've been in the word more, downloaded an app I found for the android that works on scripture memorization - just enjoying reading the word and meditating on it.

Friends....Boy God has been throwing some powerful new friends at me lately!  And I don't mean powerful as in politicians, lawyers, etc - I mean power people in Jesus!  Most of them have been in their 20's and on fire and in passionate pursuit of Jesus!  All of them have a compassion for people like you hardly ever see. All of them love on people and desire to see them rescued.  I am loving it.  I am humbled and they are encouraging me to grow in new ways.  I may be getting old - but I am never - ever - to old to learn from someone else!

Family....I love my kids and my husband.  They mean the world to me.  I have been gazing at them a lot lately - focusing on their smiles, concentrating on their laughter.  Loving the blessings God has given me and feeling peaceful and content in my heart for them.  I am blessed.

Worship....I've found some new and incredible music out there!  It's been a while since I've sat down and listened to new stuff - and one song led me to a bunch more.  Woo Hoo!   I'll share some of it with you later.

My Clarinet....Last night I found just a slight hairline fracture in it.  That's not a good thing.  It's only a matter of time before it's history and the Lord will have to replace it - 'cause He knows I don't have 3-5,000 to get a new one.  I am right now loving that it's still playable 'cause I know that isn't going to last long!

YOU :)  God has blessed me with some great new Internet friends.  Today I'm loving that you are here, sharing in my struggles, my laughter, my joy.  Thank you for being here :)

What about you - what are you loving today?

Fun Day

What an awesome 24 hours I have had!  It started with a phone call yesterday afternoon asking if we had room to have Jennie come stay with us for the night.  I went into panic clean mode (I KNEW I should have pushed the clean up last week despite everyone being home!) but we were all set by the time Jennie arrived.

What an amazing young woman of God!  I LOVE meeting young people who are passionate about Jesus and His world!  We had much in common.  This young lady is wise beyond her years - so well spoken (no, that wasn't the in common part - lol!).  I just loved sitting and listening to her share all her experiences in life. She was most recently in Sudan working with street kids.  She had some incredible stories.  Of course you all know how much I love all things African!  Her blog is on the right hand side of my page - it's called Seeds will Grow.  You really should go check it out!

She shared a video about a lady  named Mama Shekina (spelling? - sorry Jennie).  It will prompt a blog post at another time.  I want to talk with Jennie about possibly getting permission to put it up here.  Amazing testimony and gave me so much to think about.  God just keeps dumping it on this week, let me tell you!!  Never think you have "arrived" because the moment you think that - God starts pointing out some things you've never seen before that need a little work :)

Anyway - I find myself contemplative this evening and have to admit - I'm looking forward to some one on one time with a journal, my bible, some worship music and Jesus tomorrow.

On another note - the sunset is beautiful this evening - as is the quiet in my house because my kids have both fallen asleep at 6:30 p.m. - what's up with that??

That's all folks :)

PS - I just checked my stats - and there was a visitor from South Africa!  WOO HOO!!  Perfect timing :)