So this is on my heart ya'll. Each time God has blessed us with babies, in my heart I have hoped that one would be a girl. I don't know maybe it is being a girl myself that makes me think it would be cool to have another female here on the farm. It hasn't turned out that we have another girl in our family and that is OK too my boys are AWESOME and I wouldn't trade one of them for any girl. I just dish out my femaleness to them in practical ways like how to cook, how to wash clothes and put them away (sort of) and most importantly how to keep the potty nice and neat for the females in their lives! But what if I lived in a country where I prayed for 9 months that my baby would NOT be a girl. Anything but a girl. What if I knew that if it were a girl her chances for any kind of happiness and safety were very slim. Her chance of finding a husband who loved her and would treat her right were nil. I try to teach my young men to respect women. To love and care for the women in their lives. That the ones they see on the billboards are not the ones you bring home to momma so to speak. The ones on the billboards need respect too and the right kind of love. I want them to know that women are not objects they are people. People who have a lot of love and comfort to give, but need the right kind of love and respect to give it in. There are places in this world where girls and I mean girls not women, not even teenagers--GIRLS--preschool kids by our standards are being taken advantage of, their innocence lost in seconds and it breaks my heart! I know it happens here in the US too, but we punish people like that, we say it is not right. For girls in Haiti, India, Nigeria the men go free, it is such a rampant part of life that no one knows how to fix it they don't even try to find the offender. It is just a part of a girls life. Ann Voskamp, author of 1000 gifts recently emailed with a call to action. It is called the Esther Initiative. What I LOVE about this is that instead of just throwing money to therapy for the hurt it is going to empower the hurt to heal and then help others to heal and overcome themselves. It is going to change a culture. HOW? The Word of God, spoken (because most can't read) from one woman, one girl to another and it is going to work my friends. Only through the word of God will these women heal. Only through seeing the love of Jesus through another woman's compassion will they begin to see the love of a Savior. Only through the life changing Word of God can the men in their lives be changed in their hearts and then change the way they view and treat women. When the Word of God is shared a skill will also be shared allowing these girls and women to make money and overcome extreme poverty which traps them. Much like another organization we believe in Heifer Project which gives animals to families to empower them to learn skills, feed their families and share with others, the Esther Initiative is going to change lives and cultures by empowering those who have no hope. If you would like to learn more please visit The Esther Initiative. She tells it better than I can! To read Ann Voskamp's complete blog about the initiative please vist Ann's blog
- Julie Vaughn