My promise to you.

Last summer my mother-in-law handed me a book to read when I was visiting the family in Washington. I read the intro and the first half of the first chapter and stopped. I felt sick. The book was called "Renting Lacy" and it was the story of human trafficking. I learned all kinds of new words that I just didn't want to know and heard stories that I just didn't want to think about. They were gross and evil. I shouldn't fill my head with them, right?

Since then, I've heard of Streetlight Safe House in Phoenix. My sister-in-law started working with Shared Hope International, a non-profit that deals with human trafficking. These stories won't go away. And they're making me really uncomfortable.

Jared and I visit a lot of churches right now. We visited a church here in Frisco and they happened to have a guest speaker, Christine Caine. She is from Hillsong and the founder of The A21 Campaign. The video she showed after she spoke was Natalia's story. 1 seems like a much easier number to deal with than 27 million who are enslaved, 1.4 million of whom are sex slaves. I felt a push in my heart, but I told God, "I don't have the stomach for this. I just can't immerse myself in that kind of information. There are other people who can handle it. I can not." I'm pretty sure He just nodded and smiled knowing it was a matter of time.

Last week I started doing some research in the Dallas area to see who was out there helping these victims. I found Traffick911 through google, my sister-in-law, Randee, and a couple of friends on Facebook. I wrote to see about volunteering there and to see what role Frisco Fields could play in partnering with what they're doing.

Then yesterday, I read this.

I'm telling you now, if you read it, you will want to vomit. You will want to punch a wall. It is going to absolutely ruin your day. I'm asking you to read it. As a mother, a father, an aunt, and uncle, a grandparent, a teacher, a pastor, a human. You NEED to read this.

It has me thinking first and foremost about that precious life and the obstacles that already lay ahead of this three year old. The average life expectancy of a person who falls victim to these kinds of things is 7 years.

And it has me thinking about the Church. What are we doing? Jared and I are in the beginning stages of starting up this church in Frisco. When I hear these stories, I don't want to spend the money God has been loaning to us on the latest and greatest in technology. I don't want a screen worthy of a U2 concert (although that screen was awesome). I don't want the "perfect" location that will attract people who want to go to church in a comfortable setting and put in their weekly hour.

I want to help these babies. I want people who want to help these babies to be our allies. I want to partner with organizations that are helping these babies and I want us, the church, to learn from them. And I think... I think... that God just may want the same things.

So here is my promise to you blog readers. When I go to Washington next week, I'm going to pick up that book and I'm going to read it. I'm going to spend time crying. I'm going to spend time in anger, I'm sure. I'm going to spend time holding my own babies and assuring them of our love for them. I'm going to tell them they are precious to me and to their Maker.

Then I'm going to come back to Dallas, complete my volunteer paperwork and just get after it. I can't say I'm even a little bit excited about it, but I've seen it, I've heard about it and I can't ignore it anymore. And if I get complacent again, I'm going to find that article and force myself to read it. No matter how uncomfortable I am.

You can start small too. "Like" one of these non-profits on Facebook. Read the stories they post. Just make yourself aware, share the stories. It's a great start. This little 3 year old's story has changed me.