National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

It has been waaay too long since I've posted on this blog!! We have had some issues with not being able to publish blogs in the past couple weeks - hopefully those have been resolved and now we can catch up! There have been a couple posts I've been excited to write; today I'll begin with the first one that I've been so anxious to tell you about!

January 11th was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. I cannot tell you the joy it brings my heart that there is a nationally declared day to bring awareness to this horrific injustice! Senator Teresa Fedor (State Senator, 11th district) invited me to attend the event at the Ohio Statehouse to raise awareness in my home state. Tears filled my eyes as a trafficking survivor lit two candles to begin the day - one to symbolize former slaves who have been set free, the other representing those still in captivity. I imagined that if one candle was lit for every life touched by this heinous crime that not even the whole Statehouse could contain them. It was encouraging to see senators, state representatives, ambassadors, FBI agents, and other leaders from various groups gather to discuss ways to combat this global epidemic that is not just occurring in remote places of our world, but in our backyards. I was surprised to learn that Ohio is now recognized as the state having the forth most frequent calls reporting human trafficking activity in the country.

I was both humbled and honored to walk into this wonderful event with God's Word in the form of a Bible study, offering everlasting hope amidst the darkness. I set up a table with copies of Embracing an Aching Heart: Addressing the Horrors of Human Trafficking and was able to boldly declare that God does care about these oppressed individuals, and that His Word is not silent on this issue! It seemed many people were both interested and surprised to hear these truths.

It took very little time for me to write the dedication of this book. It reads, "This book is dedicated to every man, woman, and child who has been a victim of human trafficking. My heart aches for you, and it is my privilege to write this Bible study in honor of you." This statement accurately reflects the posture of my heart towards this book. The more I learn about slavery, the more compelled I am to make a difference. The more faces I look into that have been effected by trafficking, the more my heart is filled with compassion for them.

I encourage you to become educated on the injustice of human trafficking. You do not have to look long or hard to be informed, as human trafficking is now the second largest and fasting growing criminal industry in the world! Let me warn you, however, that this is not an easy arena to look into. The facts are overwhelming and the stories of those who endure unimaginable brutality are heart wrenching.

Millions are suffering... the Body of Christ must not remain silent.

Adjusting our mirrors

I have to tell you about the group of women I had the honor to serve at the MOPS group that meets at Tabernacle Church. As I've mentioned before on this blog, I have made it my practice to pray and ask God to give me a love for those that He allows me the honor to serve through teaching - whether that is through writing or speaking. I cannot even begin to tell you how much He takes me off guard in the way He answers this prayer! My Sunday school class is comprised of a group that I love like crazy, but I see them every week, so that is more understandable as a relationship is cultivated over time. But a sincere love for people I have never met before? That is an obvious answer to prayer and it overwhelms me every time I experience it. I loved this group of moms the moment I set eyes on them. In my conversations with them it was obvious that they have an earnest desire to be the best mom they can possibly be. They take their role seriously and are striving to lead their little ones in the way they should go. They were such a welcoming and gracious group, and I loved every moment I was able to spend with them.

I was asked to speak on how we (women) see ourselves... and how God see us. Within those two perspectives a gigantic chasm often exists! Who better to testify to that truth than one who spent much of her life in a pit of a poor self-worth? I think that was my number one credential for this particular speaking engagement. Not the ability to convey accurate Biblical truths on the matter, and not mere intellectual knowledge on this topic, but first hand experience. There is nothing like a testimony from the lips of one who experienced Christ's transforming power. I know for myself, speakers have a ton more credibility in my eyes when they've lived their message. This is one I have lived, and lived to tell about. Not that I don't still struggle with this, but I am no longer paralyzed by it.

We began our time together with an interesting statistic that states on average, women look into a mirror 34 times a day! Many reasons exist as to why a person may look into a mirror, but for our purposes we settled on one common reason - to see if we look acceptable. We trust the accuracy of our mirrors (I have yet to see a crazy mirror - you know the kind in a funhouse that make you look wobbly - hanging in a person's bathroom), and we make adjustments based on our reflection to make ourselves look acceptable before leaving our homes. Whether or not we realize it, you and I look into mirrors to validate our worth. The trouble is, the mirrors we are tempted to peer into for this purpose are not accurate - even though we make adjustments in accordance to the image that is reflected back to us. Our goal for our time together at MOPS was to look collectively into the mirror of Scripture to see what God says regarding our worth. Not surprisingly, His perspective looked much different from the mirrors we often use for affirmation. We covered so much ground together, and I loved every minute I had to spend with them. There is no way I could effectively relay all the information to you in this format, but I'd like to share with you the three major points of our time together.

1. Our worth is not something we establish for ourselves – it is something God has declared over us.

2. Rather than pursuing our worth we must rest in it.

3. After we look into the mirror of truth (Scripture), we may need to make adjustments in our thinking. (Our actions will follow.)

As we unpacked each one of those statements in detail, every one of us related to this struggle in one way or another. After all, the culture we live in embraces an exact opposite value system than what Scripture teaches regarding this matter. Reread the first two statements above. Our culture tells us to establish our own worth which leads to a myriad of pursuits in order to gain acceptance, approval, and advantages. We identified these various pursuits in five categories with an understanding that there is nothing at all wrong with any of the categories in and of themselves... It is when we attempt to anchor our worth into them - then we have a problem. We named these five categories counterfeit value definers. The first category was physical appearance. Now there is nothing wrong with being beautiful, having nice clothes, and wearing pretty jewelry; however, if we anchor our worth into our physical appearance then what happens when our eyes droop, our skin wrinkles, and our chin begins to sag? (Not to mention other places that begin to sag!) For some of us, we may put layers of "things" on our person in an attempt to hide behind them so the eyes of others divert away from us to things that we think may improve our worth in our estimation. And don't even get me started on the number that is reflected when we step on a scale! For far too many women, their worth is tied tightly to their waistline. Again, there is nothing at all wrong with beauty! And there is nothing wrong with being physically fit, having nice clothes, wearing make-up, accessories, etc... The things we adorn ourselves with is not the problem. A wounded heart is, and our motives regarding these things is the determining factor. Physical beauty is just one of the five categories we discussed that can be a counterfeit value definers for us.

The moms that filled the gymnasium that day were a diverse group. Working moms, stay at home moms. Mothers of multiple children, mothers of one child. Younger moms, older moms. Different and unique but we all shared two things in common. First, we all experienced the elation and exhaustion... the privilege and the pressure... the delight and demands of being called mommy. Being a mom is not a difficult fete to accomplish, but embracing the role of mom - that is very different. The second thing we all had in common is that we have a deep, abiding need to know that our life has meaning and worth. And that is not a need common to only women or moms, but every person walking on planet earth has this soul craving - that is how God created us. His intention is having our need for significance met in Him. Some of us have believed lies about our value (or lack of our value) for a very long time. It is not our responsibility to build a reputation, a bank account, a wardrobe, or even a fan club in order for us to obtain an acceptable status of worth before our God. This mentality goes against the grain of our culture who tells us otherwise - that we must climb the ladder, break the bank, and win popularity contests! We do not have to pursue our worth… BUT we do play a role, and that is where point number three from above comes into play: After we look into the mirror of truth (Scripture), we may need to make adjustments in our thinking. (Our actions will follow.)

We ended our time at MOPS with the truth that are children are watching us. They are taking a cue from us to see what mirrors we are looking into to derive and validate our worth, and we are sending them messages on where to look for this need to be met for themselves. How true it is that much of what our children learn from us is caught and not taught... Something for us to consider as we instill value, worth, and significance into the lives of our children.