Trafficking Sentences July 5, 2015

I’m a words person. I love the Word and the words. I love when there is a string of words like a string of pearls that fit together beautifully and you know there has to be a life story behind that string.

So when it comes to human trafficking questions like “How do we stop it?” I see trafficking as a sentence.

Isn’t that what we want? A sentence to come down on all those oppressors and perpetrators and violators of innocence?

There it is trafficking, oppression, injustice…one big, long, ugly run-on sentence. Every sentence has a start, a beginning. Which brings us to…

“In the beginning..

God…”

And then just as suddenly as it started, the sentence takes form. “and by one man, sin entered”  

There it is – slavery. The sentence goes forth and 27 million feel its weight in their chains. And how many of these 27 million are included in the 4 billion who are held in eternal slavery. Souls walking around carrying the weight of the world in their hearts.

This is a death sentence.

Then, with our efforts, our good, honorable efforts to end trafficking and right injustice, here we come to punctuate this movement of sin and slavery. The thing is, our best efforts are just commas in the sentence….pauses….a gasping breath here and there.

We open safe homes and start justice movements.

Comma….

And yet, flesh-colored light glows from pixellated-lust that seduces the eye and soul of a childman.

We fund a rescue mission.

Comma..

And yet, trafficking of persons is the fastest growing crime the world over.

We speak about the issue in mournful tones of concern for all of “them” (because “they” is easier to palate than “us” and “ours”)

Comma…

And yet, the light in a girl’s eyes goes out in South Africa, in India, in St. Louis…in your church.

We pledge to give monthly to a safe home.

Comma…

Yes to compassion and yes to putting our money where our mouth is and yes to caring for the wounded.

Yet, no. I’m sorry to tell you this is not putting an end to the sentence called trafficking.

You can’t end a sentence with a comma.

These commas do serve a good purpose. These pauses and breathes leave room for real change. Look!

“BUT comma God! rich in mercy with the great love for which he loved us”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to end the sentence of trafficking.

There it is with its big, bold exclamation point. It is finished!

Then, as one sentence ends another begins. And this new sentence starts with…

“Behold! Look, I am doing a new thing!”

These, for me, are the words around trafficking. We have to put words to things to come around them.

And we don’t need to just have words about trafficking in stadiums full of college students where “experts” share.

These words are for kitchen tables and coffee tables and long car rides.

The WORD is the only thing to put a new sentence on trafficking and by the word of His mouth He’ll destroy the one behind it all. The enemy of all our souls will be defeated and given an eternal sentence.

Worry Armor July 30, 2014

For the last couple months, women have confessed their worry to me.
These women are usually at least a couple of decades of wisdom ahead of me.

They tell me they worry.

What about?

They worry about me. They pray for me.
At first, I told them Thank you and not to worry, that I was just fine. 

But then I thought more about it and realized I shouldn’t be so quick to just pass over their prayers as a nice thing to do.

That’s when I started to ask them what brought on those prayers and what they’re asking for.

Their answers varied a little, but they all mentioned “darkness” and “protection” from it.

Wow!

 

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So, confession…

I’ve often caught myself fighting happy moments.

How can I be happy when the world holds so much heartache? It shouldn’t be allowed.

Hearing stories and swallowing down bits of other girls’ darkest hours until they turn my stomach and curl my fingers into fists….

There, in those moments is where the Anchor holds.

Some really great friends have come to me concerned about how my job is affecting my heart. Their concerns are valid. None of them want to see compassion and empathy become vehicles for a crippling burden of taking in all I see and hear. Valid point, ladies. So to prevent that from happening (because how much would the Enemy LOVE to see that?) I look to the Word.

 

 

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and

one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us,

having become a high priest forever.

:: Hebrews 6:19 ::

To say this scripture in Hebrews is encouraging would be a severe understatement. This is foundational to keeping going, to keeping strength up, to “not growing weary in doing good“. Though my heart may be tender, praise God! My soul has an anchor. Solid and unchanging. And the Anchor for my soul keeps me in place. It helps me be present to the pain while not being overcome by it. It keeps me from drifting to the shore for temporary relief. He keeps me in the thick of the storm.

 

And with that, there is hope. The word also tells me that on top of this anchor for our souls, there is armor to put on.

There, in those moments of contention is where the whole armor of God is EVERYthing. It’s everything

 

 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

:: Ephesians 6:13-18 MSG ::

 

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance,making supplication for all the saints.

:: Ephesians 6:13-18 ESV::

With their prayers and the confidence that comes from His word, it helps to put the darkness in perspective. I’m coming to see that pain, that knowledge of hard things  and joy are not mutually exclusive. So it’s possible to know girls who have suffered a great loss and still enjoy every minute of holding a friend’s brand new baby boy. And it’s possible to hold stories of pain gently in one hand while writing a birthday card to a sister with the other. Knowing full well that the “NOT YET” of the Kingdom is heavy, there is still a time for singing how I lift my eyes up to where my help comes from, lifting that one hand high to the Giver of Life. All of this is possible because there is an Anchor, and there is a King who supplies my armor.

 

 

I’m protected also by community. There are words of encouragement, there are texts at just the right time saying they’re praying, there are hugs when there aren’t words. (Sideline: A real, healthy hug cannot be over-valued..)

 

And as an added grace, there are pastors in my life who follow Paul’s words

Pay careful attention to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood…

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace.

The word of his grace.

Grace.

Perpetually pursuing us, redeeming our world day in and long day out. And you and I, brother and sister, we are His instruments of redeeming grace. How? By personifying the sacrifice, service, grace, hope, joy, and love of Christ, whether in pain or in times of joy. Even when both happen simultaneously.

This reality of redemption strikes hard against the evil of human trafficking. There is a tendency for us to see the whole of this global injustice, and along with it to see poverty and war and oppression and be overwhelmed. So we look away or we hold it all at arm’s length and hope that someone brave gets closer on our behalf. How do we hold it long enough to know it and to fight against it? I wish had an the answer.

What I do know is that the Lord shows us more of our own depravity so that He can open our eyes to the redemptive hope of Jesus Christ working its way into the darkest places of our souls.

This view of Redemption in me being a process of leaps and bounds and “small” victories of the every day…this view helps me to see Redemption working to restore what human trafficking has broken. This Word of grace, this Anchor, this armor, it allows us to see the depravity of human trafficking or of any such darkness and walk with it in view on this long road of redemption. Turning our eyes upon Him, the things of this world the trafficking, the orphan crisis, the groaning of His creation will grow strangely dim in redemption’s Light.

We see that the redemption of Christ was no little thing,

if we do but measure it, first by our own sins,

then by the sternness of divine justice.

Finally we must measure the greatness of Christ’s Redemption by the price he paid.

:: Charles Spurgeon ::

Within the Veil June 26, 2014

The day was finally here, the tenth day of the seventh month. Everyone in the camp knew it was coming and made their preparations for their once-a-year Day of Atonement.

It had been many years since the day their grandfathers told them about when Moses came down off the mountain where he met with God. They had heard the story over and over of  how Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he didn’t know his face had become radiant from speaking to the LORD. It shone so much that he put a veil over it. 

This was the day where the covenant of law given on that mountain had to be kept. The people couldn’t keep the whole law so there had to be a sacrifice on their behalf.

On this day, no one in the camp of Israel could work. Not even the servants. This way, everyone waited to be made clean before the Lord. He had commanded them to rest while the sacrifice was made on their behalf to cleanse them of all their sin.

 

The “Tent of Meeting” was there with all its mystery in the center of their camp. This was the tent where the Spirit of Yahweh God chose to reside. This was the God of their ancestors; of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob. This tent where Holiness resided was right smack dab in the middle of a sinful people who were dearly loved. The only people who went into this place of meeting were Moses and their high priest, Aaron.

The Lord had given Moses everything he needed to know and told him to pass it on to his brother, Aaron. Moses told Aaron not to go into “the Holy Place inside the veil before the mercy-seat” all free-wheeling or else he’d die.

See, this place where the Spirit of LORD dwelt was made up of 2 compartments that were divided by a curtain called a VEIL. And within that veil was the place called the Holy of Holies. Inside this place, was the ark of the Covenant which represented the Covenant Promise the Lord made to His people. The ark held the written Law God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai as well as some of the Manna, Israel’s dessert sustenance…God’s merciful provision in their wandering. 

 

 

 

 

 

What made this Most Holy Place the most holy was what was on top of the ark. This space was called the mercy-seat. Two angels fashioned out of gold were on either side of the mercy-seat of the ark.

 

It was over this mercy-seat that the Lord chose to let His Spirit rest like a cloud and relate with His people.

 

So with some very detailed instructions including lots of washing, clean linen, and the choosing of acceptable animal sacrifices, Aaron went into the Most Holy Place to give sacrifice for alllll of Israel’s sin. He sacrificed for his own sin and the sin of his family first so that he was pure to even go into the veil to commune with God. If he didn’t do this first, then he would have died upon entering the veil.

This is how serious God is about sin coming into His presence. Sin is destroyed by the presence of Life and Holiness. Every. Time.

After sacrificing for himself, Aaron was told to sprinkle the blood onto the mercy-seat 7 times to atone for the sins of the people.

 

God accepted this sacrifice, but there was also a live animal waiting outside the Holy Place. Aaron went out of the veil where, still in the Tent of Meeting, he would place his hands on the head of the animal and confess all the sins of the people of Israel. After placing all these sins on the head of the animal, he would let it go into the wilderness. Then, Aaron left the tent, where he’d been instructed to take off all his clean linen garments, wash again then burn a sacrifice for his sins and the sins of the people.

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Fast-forward about 1,500 years with this same nation of Israel and you will find them using this same process. The veil remained separating the people from the Holiest Place.

Things had changed though. Their leadership was full of corruption and self-righteous hypocrisy. The high priest of the day was Joseph Caiaphas. They were waiting on a powerful man who would lead Israel in the fight to overcome the Romans who had taken over by now. Caiaphas manipulated himself right into being one of the most dedicated sycophants of the Roman rulers.

He got wind of a Galilean coming and stirring up trouble among the Jews. And what Caiaphas couldn’t control, he meant to kill.

What he didn’t know was that his Great High Priest and the ultimate sacrifice, the Lamb of God, was on that Roman cross. What that high priest didn’t know was that his saving grace was on display in Jesus Christ.

 

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 

And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

:: Matthew 27: 50-51 ::

 

And the story doesn’t end there. No ma’am, no sir! Our High Priest drank the last drop of the wrath we deserve and then He rose from the dead. Conquering sin and death He lives and is interceding for us now at the Mercy Seat. He has chosen to let His presence not rest in the Tent of Meeting or in the Tabernacle…but in US!

 

 

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold. not like Moses, who would veil his face so that Israelite might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes to this day, whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.

But when one turns to the Lord the veil is removed. now the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom. and we all with unveiled faces, are beholding the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into that same image with ever-increasing glory. For this comes from the Lord who is the spirit.

:: 2 Corinthians 3: 12-18 ::

 

 

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the veil, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

:: Hebrews 6:19 ::

 

 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

 :: Hebrews 9:12 ::

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the veil, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

:: Hebrews 10:19-23 ::

He who promised is faithful!

Yes, Faithful and True according is the promise in Revelation.

In this hope of glory, there will be another veil lifted…the wedding veil of His Bride.

 

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

:: Revelation 19:6-9 ::

 

 

So today, friends, we who know Him are living within the veil. Within this veil all doubt, despair, darkness, death and sin has been removed.

Within the veil, where we abide, is the assurance of unconditional love and acceptance, a Living Hope under the satisfactory provision of Christ. This place is not designed by physical hands and its’ entrance isn’t guarded by anyone. We have full access to it. Each time I breathe and feel the air in my lungs; each time I hear that gently whisper of the Love that quiets my soul; each time I see evidence of God in His creation, there I am in the Most Holy Place with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Trafficking vs. The Body May 16, 2014

There’s another bad-news-conversation and another “no” to find a solution to.

“Opening a home for trafficking survivors is not for the faint of heart.” 

She says it with a gentle, confident tone of voice. She is one woman leading other women in pursuit of justice and she is well-acquainted with what it means to be steadfast in the work; what it means to have a devoted, long-term passion. This passion is to see the “least of these” come to a place of restoration and healing.

So where does this passion come from?

What is the source that keeps you going when you have to climb wall after wall of “No” and “Do more” and “Not enough“?

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead,

he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

:: Romans 8:11 ::

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit,

who is in you, whom you have received from God?

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 

Therefore honor God with your bodies.

:: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ::

But when the time arrived set by God the Father,

God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law

so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.

Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.

And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father”

Now, you are no longer a slave, but a child of His.

And if you are a child,

God has made you his heir.

:: Galatians 4:4-7 ::

Since the Spirit of Christ now dwells in believers’ bodies,

getting a Christian engaged in sexual sin is the closes Satan can come to

personally assaulting the person of Jesus Christ.

That ought to make us mad enough to be determined to live victoriously.

Sins against the body also have a way of sticking to us and making us feel like we ARE that sin

rather than the fact that we’ve COMMITTED that sin.

:: Beth Moore ::

With knowledge of that truth I say human trafficking is a direct affront to the Kingdom and to the gospel.

The enemy of our souls is not a creator. All things have been created by God and for God. The enemy resorts to perverting and exploiting the very gifts of God for his own purposes. What was originally created to glorify God and bring about deep satisfaction and intimacy of spirit between two people, is often used to foster greed, power, lust and evil desires.

The things of the Spirit which we love, the joy, the peace, the unity and satisfaction in Christ….all of those things are our inheritance in being adopted into the family of God.

The enemy’s plan is to steal as much of what is rightfully ours, our gifts given to us from the Father, and distort those gifts for his gain. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t “See a demon behind every bush” and I think we, as Americans, are especially good at distracting ourselves from Kingdom work all on our own. However, what’s also true is that there are forces at work on this earth who are diametrically opposed to everything Good, everything True and everything Holy.

But praise the Lord for being the One who is doing a new thing!

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

:: Isaiah 43:19 ::

This is why women need the Word.

We need the word when we see evil attack the body and the Body.

We need the Word who speaks life to our broken places, to our marginalized places.

The Word brings light & life to the places where darkness & death rule over the lives of sisters & mothers & daughters everywhere.

How can the rest of the world be caught blithely cat-napping when our girls, our daughter,

 our sisters are being kidnapped and our girls are driven from being kids to being our slaves, 

to being our whims trafficked and bought and sold, 

as if that chain of DNA that makes you female are chains that make you invisible.

For such a time as now we will risk comfort, for such a time as now we will risk ease,

for such a time as now we will say no to oppression’s disease,

for such a time as now we will give up so our sisters can rise up.

Because there is nothing worth having inside the gate

when you’ve got sisters losing everything outside the gate.

:: Ann Voscamp ::

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My mom is hospice nurse. Every day of her work week, she abides with those who are sick or dying or injured, she sits with their families and friends. Most of us run from sadness and pain, but she went back to school after her children were raised precisely because she felt called to sit in those thin places with the hope of Christ, bearing the ministry of simple presence and comfort. She carries sadness that isn’t hers to carry because most of us cannot carry these moments alone and yet there are so few who will make peace with our despair. This is her act of worship.

Our culture doesn’t really accept hard or heavy things in our every day lives, our every day lives in which we are to be successful, to be happy at all costs, to look good and to feel good and to be good….or at the very least to be doing “just fine”.

Within myself, I’ve been able to be “just fine” too often. I can compartmentalize well. If you want me to box up the pain I hear and the stories I gather into my “trafficking box“, then I can. I can take it into myself and never let you know that it’s hard. But this comes at a cost. Because there, right there, is where pride breeds and self-righteousness sounds like “Good, they think I’m joyful and not breaking inside”. Right there, in moments of isolation and pride, trafficking has affronted the Body.

The thing about compartmentalizing is that those trafficking boxes get too full and start spill out into the rest of life. They get full of hard questions and small doubts. When waiting for “yeses” and the big “go ahead” that we need to start getting our place of refuge full, I have secret doubts. Even today, I fight against this urge to explain and rationalize away the questions.

And when all that get’s too uncomfortable, then I hear Him saying “I AM”. And I AM is all about doing new things!

In those moments of the “not yet” of the Kingdom…it’s in those moments that I believe NO ONE IS FORGOTTEN. 

In those moments I believe that ours is the God who sees us, EL ROI. 

Yes, in those moments I believe.

Believe the hard things are for our good and for his glory

Believe there are better days coming

Believe that we are on a journey toward Redemption. 

Believe in the One who is making all the impossible things new.

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

:: Mark 9:23 ::

When faced with times in which God’s grace isn’t easily seen, my dad says,

“It’s a terrible tragedy when we see, but we don’t have vision.”

When trafficking attacks the body, and when the Body is attacked by the enemy, when I can’t always see a victory…

In my vision is Victor.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

:: Romans 8:37 ::

A love letter April 26, 2014

When I asked my good friend Adam, who happens to be my little brother, what I should write about…

“One last post before graduation…what’ll it be? “ he said, “Love. You’re pretty good at loving stuff.”

So here it goes, an open love letter to this season of my life. This season in which I’m bursting at the seams and shrinking under the weight of constant change simultaneously.

It’s a good time….mostly.

 

Dear Little White House in-the-middle-of-nowhere: I see you and your gravel lane full of skeptical neighbors and DIY fences falling down. I see you with all of your charm and big empty bedrooms begging for people to take shelter in your hominess. I love your atmosphere of invitation and welcome. I love your refuge and your hopeful feel of restoration in progress.

 

Dear long, long, long….long drive: I know we didn’t get along at first, but I’ve grown to love you and the familiarity of your twists and turns. You are my space to pray, to unwind and to connect with the ones I love. You’re not so bad after all.

 

Dear gas tank: I promise to not exhaust you so much whenever I’m able to slow it down a bit. Soon…maybe….hopefully?

 

 

 

Dear family and friends: You are more loved by me in this season of change, unsteadiness and stretching than ever before. Thank you for putting up with me!

 

 

Dear tiny apartment on Sunshine: Could you be any more perfect?! I love that I officially know your “home smell” now after 8  months. I love that you are familiar and cozy and full of chai tea and my books and one of the best roomies around. That’s about all I could ask for.

 

 

Dear St. Louis: Thanks for always having new and old things for me to discover when I’m lost. Thanks for being full of odd and beautiful people. Thanks for embracing diversity. I love that I think that I know you, but then you show me something else to love about you. You are the best.

 

 

Dear Bradford Pear Trees: You and I both know that you are, hands down, the best thing about early Spring, even though you reek to high heavens, you’re awful pretty when you’re all together in a line.

 

 

Dear Graduation Day: I love that you’re out in front of me, just waiting for me. I love that you mean I get to wear a light blue hood and goofy looking sleeves! I am sooo looking forward to spending you with my family. (PS If you want to throw in an envelope containing a letter saying I passed my boards, I wouldn’t hate it.)

 

 

Dear Grants Trail: I’m so glad you’re open again. All your miles will be ridden again this season with lots of brother/sister joking and competing to be had. Thanks for the endorphin bonding! You’re a champ.

 

Which brings me to…

 

Dear Spring: Yeah, I couldn’t not mention you. Thanks for showing up. You hold soooo much good and so much change. You’ve got these big ol’ exams that determine the future, you’ve got graduation (whaaaa?!) and you’ve got the opening of this home! You had us all a bit worried there a couple times, but you are here and you are “aggressive” (according to melodramatic meteorologists) and even when you send me into EpiPen-worthy sneeze fests that threaten my life during rush hour….I’ll still love you.

 

 

And finally….

 

Dear Easter Sunday: Really you’re my favorite part of Spring (at the risk of sounding like a super Christian). Thank you for your hope, your remembrance of sacrifice, your sitting-all-together-as-a-family Sunday mornings. I love all that you represent and all that you celebrate. I love that every year you allow us to set aside a time to tell our hearts, “It is finished. He is alive and coming back for you!” I LOVE that!

 

 

Open-handed Battle April 4, 2014

What’s the last compliment you received?

How do you do accepting compliments?

What about general affirmation?

 

The other day at work, we did staff affirmations one by one. Each person had to sit in the “hot seat” while their co-workers and supervisors applauded them and their role at The Covering House. It was a good thing. And it was all fine and good until you get called into the seat.

The rules are that you cannot negate compliments and all you are allowed to say is “Thank you.” We want to do this same thing with the girls we serve and it makes sense that we want them to absorb kindness without pushing it away (whether in the name of humility or not).

 

So, I sat there getting to dole out words of affirmation.

It was glorious. I LOVE that stuff! (Words of affirmation are my JAM!)

 

However, things weren’t so fun when my name got called and I had to sit on the red chair in front of the semi-circle of my co-workers.

That’s when the a co-worker who has become more of a dear friend and sister said, “You embody meekness and fierce loyalty. You are a quiet warrior.” At this point, people agreed and the words “quiet warrior” were almost contagious, restated again and again.

And all I could do was sit there with my hands open.

 

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Rewind about 2 months and I was at a point where all I could see were a mounting list of to-do’s and a ticking clock. Things were all coming together and not coming together at the same time. To say our staff is being stretched in recent months is an understatement.

There are great things ahead. I’ll present my capstone, do a few other guest lectures and papers, take my licensing exam, get to be a part of opening a home for human trafficking victims…These are all amazing gifts!

With that said…I was freaking. out.

I reached out to friends and told a small circle what was up.

Since they’re the best friends (the ones who point me to Jesus the most) they said, “What is God teaching you in this season?”

 

Open hands.

That’s all I could say. They asked what that meant since it sounds very churchy, very Sunday school.

I had to say, “Ya know…I’m not sure yet, but I’ll let you know when I find out.”

I know that I hold things too tightly, I want to perform well and not disappoint. That’s what I’m having to continually open my hands to release. That and to really believe and hold onto what He says about me, to really receive the truth in what others say.

I think He’ll show me more as I obey.

 

That same night, a friend serving in Africa, who I haven’t gotten to talk to in almost a month, sent an email.

 

In that email she said:

Open hands. After I knew I was for sure coming to Africa and preparing to leave I heard over and over and over to keep my hands open. Keep my hands open for what was next and not try to grasp for what I was leaving.

It was hard. It still is hard.

These are lines from two songs I love

‘I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open’

‘If I give it all to you, will you make it all new?’

May you trust that as you walk forward with open hands, giving it all to him that he will make it all new. He will do immeasurably more.

After a couple thankful tears of conviction were shed, I realized anew how much He cares.

He is all about using those details to get me to hear His voice.

I was living with my fists clenched out of fear or out of determination or both. I was determined to finish grad school well and to serve the Lord at work and to be an encouragement to those around me, to do all that without accepting anything from the outside. And it looked a whole lot like a self-righteous girl running herself ragged once again not tapping into the Source of immeasurably more.

 

Our lives often preach a very different Gospel than the one we think we believe.

:: Sarah Bessey ::

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If you’re reading this and you’re one of my sisters in Christ….do you know we’re created to be warriors?

Ezer Kenegdo means “man’s perfect match.” This is a picture of two equal weights leaning against each other to stay stable and strong. It means that women were created to be our brothers’ strongest ally in pursuing God’s purposes.

In the Old Testament, the word “Ezer” appears 21 times in 3 different contexts: the creation of Eve, when Israel applied for military aid, and in reference to God as Israel’s military helper. God isn’t a “helpmeet” in the watered-down way we’ve heard this used in reference to second-hand citizens in the Kingdom, right? No, our God is more than that: he’s a strong helper, a warrior, an ever present help in times of trouble. And we’re His daughters, created in His image.

 

 

 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons,

by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

:: Romans 8:15 ::

So with my hands open, open to receive or to give at any time (easier said than done), I will carry that name of “quiet warrior” remembering that the strength they see in me is His.

This alone is the most reassuring thing to open my hands to…His presence.

There is this very real battle going on that’s much bigger than finishing the semester or going to a wonderful job. It’s even bigger than social injustice, bigger than trafficking. This battle is being waged for the precious souls made in the image of their Creator. I am confident that if I open my hands to my Ezer, to the ever-present King of Kings, this battle will end in victory.

Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde,

for the battle is not yours but God’s.

:: 2 Chronicles 20:15 ::

You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

:: Psalm 146:16 ::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLPb7bfT2rg

“Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, `Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. – See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Victory,-As-An-Act-Of-God#sthash.aSE5F6kQ.dpuf

On Hard Rest February 15, 2014

Do me a favor? Would you rank these words by how you value them before you read on?

Hard Work.

Tenacious.

Rest.

Persistence.

Diligence.

Stillness.

Move.

Achieve.

 How’s it look? Where do “rest’ or “stillness” rank?

There’s a reason why we value hard work and action. We want to achieve something. We do things and act as motivated by one thing or another (ourselves, others, money, grace, recognition). The Word says that our Creator “placed eternity in the hearts of men”. We work at things and stay active to achieve because we were made for eternity. We were made to not see the end of things. I value hard work and perseverance as much as the next girl (maybe a little too much).

But “rest” and “stillness” just sound so passive, so insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Rest: (verb) to be placed or supported so as to stay in a specified position.

Still: (verb) to quiet or hush, to calm, appease, or subside.

They might sound passive, but the dictionary told me they’re both verbs. They’re actions.

By and large, Americans don’t value rest and relaxation. Nope, we’ve made a virtue  out of unceasing labor; we even brag about how busy we are, as if the hectic pace of our lives is proof of our significance. We feel guilty when we’re not working, and we’re suspicious of anyone who comes off the hamster wheel for too long. This value is evident in little things, like vacations. In Europe, the standard is 5-6 weeks off per year.  Here in the U.S., we’re looking at nearly a third of that at 2 weeks. The number of public holidays in the U.S. is 7, in Europe it’s 11.

I understand that any “vacation time” or even a job are luxuries. However, this serves as one glaring example of the what our culture thinks about rest. It’s simply not a priority.

 So this “hard rest” that I’m learning is exactly that…hard.

See, this rest is not a synonym for “lazy” nor is it passive or easy.

The Word says we “labor to come into his rest”.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,

for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works

as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest,

so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

:: Hebrews 4:9-11 ::

 

A friend and I were talking through some of what it means to “labor in order to come into His rest”. We were talking about how these verses speak of someone coming to a place of rest AFTER having worked. There is work found in phrases like “I surrender all” or “cast all your cares on Him”. This trust of surrender, of dependence and of letting that nagging sense of responsibility go is not easy, but it is always best. The “striving” or “laboring” to come into His rest for me is the surrender of control, the letting go. There is not true rest for the soul-weary until this happens.

In family, work, church or in school He asks me to surrender a sense of ultimate responsibility for making and keeping peace, the happiness and/or well-being of loved ones, the healing work, the restoration, the perfection, the reconciling, the approval…the list goes on.

In all of this, there is a call to rest and to be still – a call to dependence both on Him and on His people.

All of this requires a level of brave vulnerability. The vulnerability I’m talking about isn’t the pseudo-uncomforable-Sunday-school kind in which we bear just enough to get by. No, brave vulnerability doesn’t mean showing the areas in which we are most comfortable and calling it “transparency”. That’s phony.

Vulnerability is a show of weakness, not of strengths. It’s a leaning on or leaning into a trusted someone.

There is a circle in which I trust people and a smaller circle in which I trust people enough to brave vulnerability. Then there’s an even smaller circle in which those people who were trusted with vulnerability are also trusted to help guard my resting heart and hold me accountable.

We need those guards in times of hard rest because the very definition of vulnerability means “easily hurt or harmed physically, mentally, or emotionally, open to attack or damage.” These sisters of mine are there to remind me not to shoulder too much, to let pride go and live believing God is enough.

In response to my hesitation to ask for prayer and admit this sort-of-drowning feeling, one of those guards said…

Don’t regret being open and vulnerable. The enemy would love nothing more than to make you want to retreat and keep everything in. It is good to ask for prayer. It is good to be uncomfortably vulnerable. It is good to be prayed for. It is good to admit that you’re overwhelmed. That being said, I don’t want you to regret it…I think it’s wonderful you’re being vulnerable with people especially when you feel in over your head and don’t have everything together. It’s a big step of faith.

In thinking through this struggle of rest and why it’s so difficult to reach out, to sit down, to surrender responsibility and only take up what he’s entrusted to me; knowing this really comes down to pride. Pride, the sin that just won’t go away is the root of it all. This pride too often keeps me from the real rest found in my truest identity – His.

This identity as being hidden IN CHRIST is the rest that drives the work. Knowing my position in Christ is the strength I need. It is how I can be “at rest” in the middle of chaos. It is the direct reason for any good work, it is constant despite the work. And keeping in mind that I am the righteous of God in Christ Jesus with or without the filthy rags of good works I string together, WITH or WITHOUT them! I can rest in the confidence of my position in Christ. He is my hope and my righteousness.

Keeping this Truth front and center in times of weariness is hard.

This is my hard rest.

It is a continual reminder that I am a child of the Father who is making all things new!

I am a beloved child of the Father who is says “It is finished!”

He says, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

 So, “This is how we know we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence. Even if our hearts condemn us we know that God is greater than our hearts.”

Even if my heart condemns me and says I’m not measuring up to the work, even when my heart condemns me and says to do more, to be more…..Even then, He is greater than my heart. He is my Rock, my hard rest.

Her Story February 6, 2014

This is a story about a girl who lived in the most beautiful place you can imagine.

Her father made everything to exact specifications knowing she’d always enjoy them to the fullest.

She had everything she needed and more.

From the very start, her Father was looking out for her in ways that would ensure she was protected, loved and honored.

The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him,

nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him,

under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.

:: Matthew Henry ::

They were fit perfectly together – unified and without a hint of shame.

See, her Father was good and cared so deeply for her. He made it a priority to know her. They had the most perfect type of father/daughter communication there is.

He dreamed of them always having this kind of close relationship. He had high hopes for His daughter to be all that she was created to be. He would do anything to make sure these plans for her benefit were achieved.

All of that was tested when His daughter was approached with the prospect of pride and insecurity. A seed of falsehood was planted in her heart when she first heard, “Did He really say…?” and “For He knows your eyes will truly be opened.” She listened and allowed this lie to settle in her heart. This lie that her father had anything but good planned for her, that He would keep any good thing from her. She let this insecurity build and with it, the pride that she deserved better. She became captive to these lords of insecurity, fear and pride…

If only she knew all her daughters and her daughter’s daughters would feel the wake of this choice to believe a lie.

Even if it was just for a moment.

And this enemy is persistently evil, he hates to let go of a captive and he hates being exposed for the liar he is. So he crafted his lies to sound as true and as appealing as possible. He continues to use these lies to all her daughters from that day on to today.

You’re not seen by Him.

You’re not known by Him.

You’re too far gone for Him to take you back.

You’re beauty is what defines you.

You’re too much or too little.

Her story is woven throughout history. It’s one of protection, of love and of honor, just as it was in the beginning.

The Father pursued His daughter’s daughters all throughout their running away and through the abandonment of their hearts’ deepest desire – to know and be known by Him. Because no matter how many generations passed from the first lie to today, there’s a restlessness in the soul of His daughters that cannot be tamed.

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign

through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!

:: Romans 5: 20-21 ::

He never fails to keep a promise, but somehow we forget He is always on time.
He is always there with an open hand with exactly what our hearts need.

You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

:: Psalm 145:16 ::

Daily Bread.

He is wise and patient. She needs the grace to see it clearly, this DAILY bread.

Too soon and she’d take it for granted, too late and it’s more than she can bear.

He’s always what she needs. Her daily bread. Her rescue, her redemption…is always right on time.

The truth is, these daughters of her’s, their affections, their security, their hope is all too often misplaced.

It’s misplaced by their brothers, by their faith communities…misplaced, mostly, by themselves.

We know it, and feel it all the same. These creeping age-old lies are told by the same enemy who began it all.

These lies attempt to deplete the courage the Father gave us to beat back the darkness and see His hands of grace.

This courage is His gift to His daughters – the courage to reach out and touch their Father’s hand once more.

The very moment when we reach out and receive the Father’s redeeming love-gift, He begins a great work of Truth in us.

This truth does not waver or recoil in the face of enemy. It is a truth that tills up the soil of the heart to remove all the deeply rooted lies. Through this truth-sowing, the Father prepares his daughter. He beautifies her and heals all the scars and wounds from the great enemy of her soul.

The enemy of the soul only has two battle plans.

1. Blind her to who God is.

2. And blind her to who she is.

Instead, the Father has not changed those great plans He had for His daughters from the very beginning!

He turns even those evil plans around for her benefit.

He prepares her for her long-awaited wedding …redeemed, forever pure, forever with Him!

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude,

like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
 Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
 it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure.”

:: Revelation 19: 6-8 ::

He set us in a garden with a plot to tend, a tree to stay away from, and a voice to ignore—and we couldn’t even do that. – See more at: http://sayable.net/2012/03/im-not-okay/#sthash.GzKb31qh.dpuf

Retrospective Hope December 25, 2013

“This is the end of December….This is the end of December?!” These are the lofty, complicated thoughts that hit me this week. I guess I’ve reached the age where I start saying things like, “Where did the year go?”

Nevertheless, here I am, wrapping up a year of hope.

At first, hope was something I expected to find. It was seemingly ready and available.

It was easy to see hope when surrounded by others who had it in steady supply. It was easy before I heard about girls as young as 11 being sold for sex to grown men. Not only this, but that they are beaten, starved, humiliated. That’s when hope took on a whole new definition. (This is heavy, but stick with it for a minute)

When you’re waiting for test results that could easily alter a young life, when you’re waiting to hear how old a survivor is, when you sit down and hear her story in her own words….this was when hope started to look a little different.

“Small” successes are invaluable now. People who gave money and time to provide a home for these girls, seeing girls show up for group counseling sessions “just to be together“, seeing them smile and take a nice, deep breath when they come into the office. Those are the new hopes I have.

What never changed in all this was my reason for hope. He stays constant, unchanging.

The darkness may shift around and cast shadows that change, but the Light is eternally steadfast!

Because even when things are darkest…He sees light. The darkness is as light to Him!

Even when I walk into the dark…a great LIGHT has been shown.

When the darkness is overwhelming….I can rest assured the Light will not be overcome.

Instead, the Light overcomes the darkness time after time after time.

In this Light, my own deeds of darkness are exposed. My performance-driven, overachiever who wants to see big progress, who want to fix it and bring a good report, who wants to use her own strength to accomplish it all…

Those things, He’s told me to lay them down. The burdens I carry for the hopeless, they’re not mine to carry. I am utterly dependent on Him to show me which things I am to lay down and which things He’s supplying the strength I need to lighten the load.

See, this load called “trafficking” it’s one of those big, heavy, hard-to-carry loads that are often awkward to try to share. The only thing to do with a load like that is to lay it down.

In this laying down and taking up only what is mine to carry, I have become utterly dependent on the Lord. In Christianese, this doesn’t sound like a bad place to be and it might look nice on a spiritual resume. But let me tell you friends, it. is. hard. work.

I see now that dependence is a real gift.

There is hope in waiting for Him to take care of it all with his providential hands. These hands of His are working all things together for good and are not going to quit when they’ve begun a good work.

This December, I think about how seeing Hope’s first coming must have been hard work too. Who knew that over 2,000 years ago, amongst a subjugated people with no king of their own and no sign of military help…would come out of the stump of Jessie, a Savior. No one could’ve seen it.

We have to train our eyes to see Hope in the unlikeliest of places.

Why should the eye be so lazy?

Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see.

:: G.K. Chesterton ::

Hope is Someone I could never have done this year without. I’m grateful that even when I don’t see Him, He still sees me. This Light shines faithfully on the unfaithful.

In this year I see that hope is as steady as an anchor, but it’s also diverse and applicable to most every context you can imagine.

These past few weeks, I’ve been in Hebrews. This is so timely as I come to the end of 1 year with The Covering House. In these 12 months full of hope and of change and of hard, hard times…I see that God has brought me back to where he started this blog and this journey.

Hebrews 3 is where I was reading when God confirmed His call on my life to head to Africa…right there in the middle of college He whispered, “Do not harden your heart”. Out of that word came this blog, a trip to Namibia, a meeting with a girl named Melanie, and a heavier burden for the modern abolitionist movement. Through this, He took me to grad school and to The Covering House and to this year celebrating hope.

Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

:: Hebrews 3:6 ::

Sometimes all of us can see it, sometimes no one sees it but you, but the Light is breaking through.

I love that phrase “light breaks through.”

I love it because it means we’ve set up an outpost for the Kingdom, it means God’s way of life has been established for even just a moment here on earth, it means for just a while we saw the way we were always meant to live. Redemption. Wholeness. Beauty. Light. Hope!

It means that for a second everything fit and we caught a glimpse of the true intended humanity. It means something rises up in our souls when we see it, and we offer the only due response: “Praise His name! The Hope of glory!”

This year has shown me that no situation is more hopeless than my Savior is gracious.

================================================================

So, here it is – a snapshot of hope in black and white in these last several months.

Let us be women who live for Peace.

Let us be women who breathe Hope.

Let us be women who create beauty.

November 2013

—————————————-

Abba. Father. We ask for relief for Syria and hope for us all.

September 2013

————————————-

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek

:: Hebrews 6:19-20 ::

So, we stand…even when the seas require an anchor. We stand and look toward the Light.

July 2013

—————————————————

No amount of or lack of obedience will counteract grace. It is infinite, matchless, boundless, untamed. Let’s let this grace works it’s way into our hearts and minds and then react in the only way we are able…in radical gratitude and love. “No guilt in life, no fear in death! This is the power of Christ in me!”

This is the hope we have!

May 2013

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Let’s be a community of women, gathered together to live more whole-hearted, to sharpen, challenge, love and inspire one another and then we’ll send each other back out into our worlds bearing the mandate given to our girl Eve…to be fruitful, to bring life into the dark places; speak life and hope into the hard places.

May 2013

—————————

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

:: Ephesians 3:20-21 ::

Night For Freedom: Hope Unseen

April 2013

—————————————-

It is a daily surrender of what pride tells us in exchange for what the Truth is. The glory there is that even this exchange of lies for truth serves to remind us that the whole point of living is living in hopeful dependence on Him, of following Him one faltering step, one triumph over fear at a time.

April 2013

——————————

You, brave-hearted who live with your hearts open, to the good and the bad…beat on and don’t be afraid because the Lamb of God has a heart of faithfulness toward His beloved.

Hope’s promises are sure!

March 2013

—————————–

Love hopes all things: (personal favorite!) it never stops hoping for the resolution and reconciliation of all things under heaven. It is resilient and tenacious in its expectation.

March 2013

———————-

And as we fight for others (in all kinds of  beautiful ways only God can pull off) we’ll keep coming back to our freedom too. He is our only hope. {Romans 8:24-25}

And friends, Hope does not disappoint.

February 2013

—————————-

This Hope doesn’t begin in any one place in history. This Hope is not uncertain or wishful thinking. This Hope has always been, is unfaltering, is going to be here tomorrow and is one hundred percent certain.

Jehovah Elohim: My blessed HOPE

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

:: Romans 8:24-25 ::

January 2013

——————————-

So, I entreat you, sister, to approach that dream with boldness.

I can promise you this…it will. be. worth it. 2013; a year for loads and loads of hope.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,

according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen!

:: Ephesians 3:20-21 ::

January 2013

———————————-

So, staying with purpose on purpose is the plan for now. And with that plan for 2013, I have HOPE.

It’s all about this hope in the promises He has made.

December 31, 2012

Looking to 2014, I know Hope’s not going anywhere, sure as my soul (Hebrews 6).

I’m not usually big on the “naming your year” deal, but I have this hunch that 2014 is going to be a lot about growth and all things being new.

It’ll be about finding redemption in unlikely places and giving thanks in the mystery of this tension of the Kingdom being here and not yet. This darkness I see? Jesus knows all about it and it will be alright. Because the chaotic, polluted, sinful darkness is exactly the kind of place He chose to be born into.  It’ll be about watching darkness around me as it is REDEEMED, MADE NEW and then about giving THANKS for this miracle of grace.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of HOPE the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

For now, in this season, I am filled with hope and expectation in the waiting. Christ is coming!

He was always there, the Alpha, the First, the Beginning. {Genesis 1}

He has come, Immanuel, God with us.  {Matthew 1}

He is ever-present, our Helper, God with in us. {John 14}

He is coming, Faithful and True on a white horse, God forever with us. {Revelation 19}

For Freedom’s Sake November 12, 2013

 

 

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

:: Galatians 5:1 ::

(Warning: This blog post contains content that is highly tourist-oriented.

The author is not responsible for any eye rolling or feelings of “Did she really?” that result herein.)

This past weekend, my work sent my supervisor (read: friend) and I to an anti-trafficking conference in D.C. hosted by Shared Hope International.

The conference was an overflow of information and sharing of strategies, theories and stories. Oh the stories….

Those were the most powerful. Survivors who have become champions over the horrors they have endured, spoke on what their experiences have taught them. Some with Master degrees in Social Work and some with PhD’s in theology…they spoke out of their hearts.

One of these women in particular, Minh Dang, who is writing her thesis to complete her Masters at U.C. Berkley, spoke about social change. Her theory has several components, but one is that we, the free, have a responsibility to exemplify freedom in our lives. She spoke of how the worst type of confinement, in her experience, of being trafficked for commercial sex, were the psychological chains she had to break. The mind control – “tyranny over the mind” as Thomas Jefferson puts it... She spoke of how those who work with survivors should remember that speaking about freedom is not enough. We have to live it. Being “slaves to our job” to fear or to anxiety or any other thing is not the way to lead others to liberation.

I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal

hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

:: Thomas Jefferson ::

September 1800

If Minh and Jefferson aren’t enough for you to buy in, Paul speaks of this same call to action in his letter to the church in Corinth…

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,

and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

:: 2 Corinthians 10:5 ::

We take our thoughts captive in order to obey Christ.

We make this effort, by His strength, to take every thought captive so those thoughts don’t hold us captive.

When we live with minds full of freedom, we honor those who have been robbed of such liberty.

You know I couldn’t visit D.C. without seeing this friend…and the big guy behind us too.

 

 

 

As I stood in this place rooted in the past, I thought about how it’s focused so intently on the future, how history is not supposed to repeat itself. I thought about there being so much to learn and to look forward to, while there’s also so much to do be DOING and SEEING now – in the present.

 

All of this remembering the past, the troubled slavery-ridden past, led to a focus on the helpers who saw a light in the midst of such profound darkness. And in the midst of this present pain of modern-day slavery, I know there are helpers – and One Helper in particular to lean on (John 14:16). There was Light then and there is Light now.

 

 

A good friend of mine, a sister, keeps me grounded. She keeps me grounded by speaking truth to me like,

“One of the best things to do sometimes in the dark is to write down the things we remember about His faithfulness. Remember specific times when we saw His goodness. Because we need to remember that not only is He all of the omni’s – omni-powerful, omniscient and omnipresent – He is also good!”

She helps me stay grounded in the mystery of “How do such bad things happen?” by showing me how to give thanks.

Thanksgiving in all things accepts the deep mystery of God through everything.

:: Anne Voskamp ::

I give thanks for miraculous healing, both physically and spiritually speaking, in the lives of women I love.

I give thanks for the provision of a job in which my passion is accounted for.

I give thanks for a dad who refers to me (even in front of other church men) as “a teacher of the Word”.

I give thanks for conferences, organizations, nonprofits and individual souls who come together for freedom’s sake.

I give thanks because I know freedom. I live it and breath it and glorify my Maker through it.

I give thanks for a future where true freedom will be realized in a forever home.

I give thanks for the Liberator who makes this possible.