The Shock of Modern Day Slavery

We think that slavery was a shameful part of our history which was ended at least a century ago. We are oblivious to the facts when we think that. Today, there are 27 million people enslaved around the world. There are ONE MILLION children trapped in the commercial sex trade every year. These statistics are sickening and enraging.

Today at church we had a guest speaker who is part of the growing effort to rescue young girls and women from the sex trade industry. Sovannara is Cambodian, going to graduate school in Texas. She first heard the word brothel when she was 10 years old. She was tricked and kidnapped by a woman who robbed her and left her alone in a city. Thankfully, Sovannara was able to get home, but was told she was very lucky that she had not been sold into a brothel.

Later, when she went to Phnom Penh to study, she became a Christian,and eventually, a counselor, working with children who have been abused in the sex industry. She works with an organization which helps rescue girls and women from the brothels that are everywhere in Cambodia. Sovannara counsels the girls who are rescued, including one eight year old girl who had been sold into a brothel, along with her six year old sister. Getting help for these girls is very complicated, and includes working with the police, lawyers, and judges in an often corrupt legal process. She said that she often feels hopeless because of the injustice. Only God can help. God loves these girls. He knows their brokenness and their hopelessness.

Sovannara is seeing many girls coming to emotional and mental health after being rescued from slavery. She shared the story of one girl who had been sold into a brothel by her mother. After the girl was rescued and became a Christian, she wrote her mother a letter in which she shared the gospel with her and told her that she forgave her.

Sovannara is getting her Master’s Degree in social work. She wants to help parents to understand the needs of their children and love them the way they need to be loved. She also wants to speak to churches in Cambodia so that Christians there see the problem and will rise up to meet the need.

Sharing God's Love in Little Ways

If your reading this and you know me or have read any previous posts, you know that I am big believer in what Mother Theresa said, ""Don't look for big things, just do small things with great love." Last Saturday, I had a great opportunity to do a few small things in a new area. Three of my daughters, along with 5 grandchildren and one son in law were invited to join the Pastor of a very small Spanish speaking church in Southeast Ft Worth and go to some homes in a neighborhood he is trying to reach. We met at the church, which is also where the pastor lives, along with a few members of his congregation. After some time of prayer, we drove to the target neighborhood. We spread out and went to the homes with gifts of diapers, small gifts for children, and some food. (I told my daughter the residents probably thought, "Thank you for the gifts, but did you have to bring 50 children with you")
I don't know how many lives are touched by this type of activity, or if eternity is impacted, but we had a great time and met some remarkable people.
We met a beautiful young woman whose husband was deported this week. She has 2 young sons, and a 2 month old baby. We spoke with her and prayed for her and her family.
As we approached one home, I noticed a very small wheelchair sitting near the door. That family had three sons, one, a 4year old boy named Billy who has Cerebral Palsy, cannot walk or talk, or even sit alone. It was a joy to be able to provide some things that the family needed and be able to pray for the family and especially little Billy.
The final family that I visited with had a 6 year old daughter who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. As I wrote this, I remembered that she is entering the hospital this week for more tests.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet these families, and to serve with the sweet brothers and sisters.
As I said, I don't know what kind of eternal impact the time had, but I am happy to share God's love in whatever way possible.

She's Legally "Ours"

Today was a big day for our family. Our precious little grandaughter, who we have called "Sissy" became leagally "ours", with the new name of Aspen Dai Warmerdam.
Aspen came to live with my daughter Melody and her husband Brad on December 12, 2008, as a foster child. She was 4 months old, tiny, wieghing only 11 pounds, and absolutly beautiful.
She was fully their daughter and our grandchild from that moment, even though they did not know if they would be able to adopt her at that time. During the next months there were times when it looked like they might lose her, but they loved her absolutely and unconditionally. Their first desire was that she be in the home that was best for her, although they deeply loved her and wanted her to be their child. In October, the court decided that Melody and Brad should become her parents, so it has been mostly waiting through the required 90 day waiting period and having paperwork done. Today, they went before a judge who made her officially, legally, forever their little girl. She was worth the wait.
Aspen is very tiny. At 19 months, she barely weighs 20 lbs, but she is "fiesty", full of life, energy, and enthusiasm. She sings, jabbers, yells, and makes just all kinds of noise. She is very busy, into everything, a total joy. She makes me laugh until I cry.

I am so thankful for this wonderful child that God has brought into our family. I know that He has amazing plans for her.

Musings about injustice stirred up by a dream

Last night I had a strange dream. I dreamt that for some reason, we were having to hide, maybe because we are Christians, but I am not sure that was the reason. We were living in our house, but were very careful that some police or army or something did not find us. We had a secret hideout in our attic, but, to get to it quickly and secretly, we had cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling, inside the cabinet, so, in an emergency, we had to go into the upper kitchen cabinet, through a hole in the ceiling, and into the attic hide-away. I woke up a little troubled, and wondered where the dream came from, until I realized it was because of our current Ladies Bible study. We are doing a study on Esther, the story of one evil man's plot to annihilate all Jewish people, and the courageous woman who risked her life to stop the plot. Our discussions have ofen made the obvious connection to Hitler and Nazi Germany...so, I am sure that was in by subconsious mind and caused the dream. My purpose in writing this is not to just tell about my dream. It just made me think once again about how important it is to stand against evil. I know some are expecting to face severe persecution for Christian faith. I am not expecting that in my lifetime, although I know it could happen. What I am thinking about is the more subtle evil that we face every day. I am by nature a peace-keeping, confrontation-hating kind of girl, so it is sometimes hard to speak up, but, I will when I have to!! Too often, I hear ugly comments that show a heart of racism, stereotyping, and bias. Sometimes, even spoken in a religious, self-righteous tone. I don't want to let those little things go. I have determined to speak up...Esther was told that she may have been put exactly where she was "for such a time as this". I have begun to feel that for every conversation I am involved in, every email that I recieve, every thoughtless comment that I hear, I am there "for such a time as this" and God wants me to speak up for those that are the target of racism, prejudice, njustice, or even just gossip or ridicule.
"You're here to defend the defenseless,to make sure that underdogs get a fair break; Your job is to stand up for the powerless,and prosecute all those who exploit them."
Psalm 82:3-4

Valentine's Day Cookie Give-away

Well, despite the snow on the ground and the schools closing, we had a great cookie give-away. We had a little confusion getting started because the weather was bad, but we got it together. The giveaway girls were MariLea, Karen, Teressa, Melissa, and myself. We met at the church in Dublin, went to the Dublin City Hall, all three banks, and a few businesses, then headed for Stephenville. We stopped at a couple of stores, but were going through cookies too fast. We stopped for lunch (of course we had to include a lunch, and we gave a cookie to our hostess),

then went to the Fire Station and the Police Department.


Up to that time, almost everyone we met was thrilled to recieve a Valentine Cookie bag. People were very nice and grateful. The next stop was the local hospital. We gave away cookies in the lobby, to some nurses, and the staff in the emergency room. We stopped a young woman and offered her a cookie. She took the cookie and then told us that she had been sent to tell us that we were not allowed to do that. She was embarrassed and really felt bad. Someone had called her and complained, so she had to enforce the "no solicition" policy. It seemed funny that no one turned down the cookies. Someone took a cookie, then called to complain! While the young woman was telling us we could not give them away, Karen went down the hall and gave some. We told the woman not to worry about it, we were fine. The truth is, we all felt like God was saynig that is enough here, I want you to take cookies somewhere else. So, we went to the court house, and finally made one last stop at the newspaper office. We had a great day. It was such fun, giving small gifts. We pray that at least one person who received a cookie bag would understand that we truly meant it as a small reminder of God's love.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is supposed to be all about love. The TV is consumed with commercials for diamonds, flowers, and perfume. The stores are full of Valentine cards and red lingerie. Teenage girls are worried about whether they will get a gift from that special guy. Movies come out celebrating or demeaning the big day. More marriage proposals will be made than on any other day of the year. Many husbands who are oblivious to the importance of the day will be in the dog house for forgetting it.
I am thinking this is a great time to spread the word about God’s love for people. Also, it is a good time to practice doing a “little thing” to share God’s love.
I do have a little thing planned. I am getting together with some friends to bake Valentine Cookies (I bought the dough with hearts painted on each cookie. No way am I going to spend a whole day cutting out hearts with a cookie cutter). We are going to put two cookies in a small cellophane bag, with a note attached, like this the one below. I had planned on giving these away in front of Wal-Mart, but they don’t allow that on a holiday weekend, so plan B. We will drive around and give our cookies away at stores, businesses, the local Department of Human Services office, WIC office, police station, maybe some schools and hospitals, just anywhere we can find people. I know we will have fun, and I think that some folks will be glad to have a cookie and be reminded that God loves them. I will let you know how it comes out.

"Valentine’s Day is all about love, so we want to take this opportunity to remind you that God loves you. Please accept this small gift as a token of that love. We hope it brightens your day.
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:10
If you would like to know more about God’s love, call Cottonwood Church at 254-445-2929, or visit with us any Sunday. We have services at 9:15 and at 10:45. Cottonwood is located on Highway 6, 3 miles East of Dublin."

Retreat is coming!

Yes, I know that I have posted the details of the retreat with a link to register. It just that now, with it one month from today, I am really excited. I love our Cottonwood Ladies Retreat. I know, there is a place for the big ladies conferences like “Women of Faith” and Beth Moore’s “Living Proof” conferences, with the big-name speakers and worship leaders, but the Cottonwood retreat is so dear to my heart. The retreat is small and intimate. It is not exclusively for Cottonwood members. We welcome, invite, encourage, sometimes beg, other women to come, and many do. But, still, there is a feeling of family. I try to get there before anyone else so that I can register the women and give them the keys to their rooms, but no matter how early I arrive, the desk attendant tells me that some women have already checked in. Our first session starts at 7:00pm, but many women take the day off work to spend the extra time with the other women. I love that they are so eager to get there. We have the best time at the retreat. One year, a young woman with a somewhat wild life-style came, and afterward said, “I didn’t know you could have so much fun where there were no drugs, no alcohol, and no men.” That statement meant so much to me. I was so glad that my friend could see that being a Christian does not mean that you cannot have fun. I was so glad that she was able to see that being with Christian women did not have to be boring and stiff. At our annual retreat, women relax and enjoy being together.
Yesterday, I met with our speaker, Arnita Taylor. She is as excited about the retreat as anybody, maybe more than all of us. We planned the schedule and she shared some of what she plans to talk about. I will share a little bit as an “appetizer” for the retreat. The topic is “More to See”, so every session is based on the fact that God is always ready to show us more of Himself. Arnita plans to share that God will show us more of Himself when we surrender more of ourselves to Him. We see more of God when we walk with him through times of suffering. We are able to see more of God when we experience freedom from anything that holds us. And, we see more of God when we go to Him in honest, open prayer.
If you are reading this, and you haven't made plans to attend the retreat, please consider joining us.