Have you had a long day? Are you tired? Is reading this blog pulling much needed energy from you at this moment? Sometimes a whole day of scheduled duties goes by and I fall into bed, just to get enough sleep to do the same thing the next day. Sometimes the days blend together. My calendar is the only thing that jolts my brain to remember the day of the week. For me, and maybe for you too, the more tasks and things on the schedule, the more lines drawn on the calendar, more or less resemble prison bars to me.
Once every month, the full-time staff members are required to take a "personal retreat day" which basically means an entire day to devote to the Lord, meditating on the word, reflecting on the past month, praying, resting, worshiping, etc. I was skeptical at first, thinking that I had to go through a certain method, checking off things I needed to reflect on, but after that first time, I was excited to experience the next one. This past Thursday was my most recent retreat day. Normally it falls on a Saturday but this unique situation of the middle of the week and having a borrowed car at the time allowed for me to spend my retreat day outside of the Brentwood neighborhood.
I decided that early morning, right after a healthy Apple Jacks breakfast, I'd drive myself to the beach (about 25 minutes away from where I live) I was hoping that the early time of this week day would mean barely any beach goers. I parked the car, left my shoes and socks, my towel, my wallet, and my backpack behind and proceeded to the beach on foot...barefoot. I walked the path to the beach, probably about 9:15am, and the sun was still pretty low which meant a beautifully bright reflection from the water and into my unexpecting eyes. I approached the water, looked to my right, to my left, a few ambitious walkers here and there but not too many people. With no intention of finding a spot to sit, I picked a direction, put my headphones in, and began to walk. Look at all the seashells. Look at the waves. Look how far out into the ocean I can see. I can't even see the end. Someone in Africa might be looking in my direction thinking the same thing. After almost an hour of walking and enjoying the vast blue water on my left, the side of my face warm from the sun, I turned and headed back. (Not very profound to the story, but I did indeed turn around.) As I recall, this is the first time I've ever gone to the beach by myself. I definitely enjoy taking intentional alone time, and even though the beach began to get more populous, me alone with my thoughts and praise to God was awesome.
I needed that rest.
Last night I went to a showing of one of the most powerful and intense movies I've ever seen. I'm not talking about any Hollywood films but rather a documentary called Nefarious, which I looked up means "wicked or criminal". It was about global sex trafficking. Honestly, I didn't know this fact until I already made plans to see it. It was a faith-based film with interviews from former prostitutes, former pimps, former sex clients and unveiled the hurt, pain, helplessness that many women and children experience. It is definitely worth watching and understanding, but I know that if you're like me and knew that it would be hard to watch and learn of what terribly evil things are happening, you wouldn't want to watch it. You probably won't watch it. I'm not being judgmental. I'm right there with you. I fear bringing pain on myself. Even if the pain is not directly effecting me, learning of other people's pain in hard for me.
A 10 year old girl, raped by her father. Now she's a prostitute. People in poor Cambodian villages consider mothers blessed if they have a daughter because they can sell them into sex slavery for money to buy TVs and cell phones. Billboards in Thailand advertise women as more delicious than a fresh durian. The average prostitute starts prostituting between 12 and 13 years old. These stats one after another are hard to believe and even harder to face as someone who has very little idea of these things happening. I don't really know how to respond to a documentary like that. What can I do but make others aware and pray?
The most powerful part of the movie was probably when a couple of ex-prostitutes talked about how they got out of that lifestyle. The answer. Jesus. One of them should've died from too much cocaine, but she called out to Jesus and survived. The other had a dream where Jesus and her were sitting on a bench. His eyes didn't judge, didn't lust, didn't condemn, just loved. He knew everything she had ever done and still loved her. You could see as they were retelling their stories that they there was an incredible weight lifted from their shoulders. Hope was born.
Anyway, there's this thing in the Bible called the Sabbath. Most Christians might believe the word is synonymous with Sunday, just a word. I know I did. I think having an intentional day of rest, true rest, not just taking naps or not working, is one of trusting the Holy Spirit and following His leading.
Please take time to pray.
-Pray for these women trapped in a life where they'd rather be dead than alive because of all the abuse.
-Pray for courage to face these facts yourself with a burdened heart. The worst day of your life may seem like heaven to some.
-Pray for my heart, that I don't just get worked up about these things and easily angered at everybody. I do pray that whoever reads this does not feel judged for not knowing about these things or for doing nothing. I pray that you would take time to pray and open your heart for the broken people around the world who do exist despite not seeing them with your eyes.
Fernando Ortega's "I Stretched Out My Hands"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRhujopTr9k
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