Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

the exodus road

Why I'm a Proverbs 31 woman (but it's not what you might think)

I’m a Proverbs 31 woman.

You know how Proverbs 31 gets a lot of attention (both negative and positive) and women strive to live up to this seemingly impossible list of ideals? Yeah, that’s not what I’m talking about.

Before the famous part of that passage are these words:

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” Proverbs 31:8-9

I have been drawn to and inspired by these words for as long as I can remember. I am a writer to the depths of my inner self, and when I feel paralyzed to do something, I return to these words and know that even if I can’t do, I can always tell.

I’ll admit: I’m not always good and faithful with this. A couple of years ago, I signed up with an organization called The Exodus Road to use my blogging voice and audience to tell people about the awesome work they are doing to rescue people from trafficking and sex slavery. And then I sort of stopped, not because I stopped believing in it, but because I got busy with other things. Badge_IBlogForFreedom

Well, I’m glad to say this partnership is back, and in the coming months, I will blog once a month (on the 8th or 9th of the month) about trafficking and sex slavery. When I first joined The Exodus Road blogging team, I wrote this post about why I care about this issue. You can find my previous posts under the category “The Exodus Road.” I’m mildly embarrassed by my blog silence on this issue, but I’m grateful for the re-launch of this amazing opportunity.

I respect what The Exodus Road is doing. They are passionately pursuing freedom for those enslaved and they are partnering with organizations around the world to accomplish this mission. They are changing lives and telling real stories of real people being rescued. It’s not just a fad for them.

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I’m humbled by their work. And I don’t want to be indifferent to it.

Because it’s easy to go about my life and not think about people who are not free. I live in America, the land of the free, so my worldview is a bit skewed. But in other parts of the world, there is no freedom. And in the grand scheme of humanity, if there are enslaved people somewhere, then I, too, am enslaved.

I might not be able to go to the places where investigators are gathering evidence on traffickers, but I can tell you about the work they are doing. And I might not personally know any victims of trafficking but I can tell your their stories. You might tire of hearing about it, but my hope is to keep telling you about this issue so that none of us forget that there are real people in our world who are really captives.

I know I can’t do everything, but I know I can do something.

Telling–it’s my something. It’s a start.

And it’s better than nothing.

I hope you’ll follow along with these stories and find your something, too.

5 on Friday: Good stuff from bloggers you need to be reading

Sometimes it’s hard to wade through all the words on the Web and find the treasures among the trash.

Let me help you.

I’ve read some great posts lately that challenge and encourage and inspire me. My hope is that they’d do the same for you.

Here are five posts (and some excerpts from their posts) you should take time to read this weekend.

1. When Love is the Last Thing You Feel by Alison McLennan. I was touched by these words that challenged me to keep loving when it’s hard.

“Which is the greater sacrifice: to keep a vow when keeping it is a pleasure, or to keep a vow when keeping it takes everything you have?”

I don’t know, in God’s economy, if one is greater than the other. Certainly it is a divine gift to love with ease, to take pleasure in our work, to pour ourselves out for others and find joy in serving.

But what about when we don’t? Is it any less of a gift to labor in those things?

2. #scotus and other stuff by Erika Morrison. (the life artist) Ever disagreed with someone about a controversial issue? Yeah, here’s a good guideline for how to survive that as friends.

So this is my guideline for myself, take it or leave it; adjust and tweak if you so desire: Pray down low. Don’t move until you’ve changed. Suspend your assumptions and walk yourself to the inside of someone else’s skin and story. See that everyone is carrying the weight of their own history; an entire world riding piggy on their backs and everyone is fighting their own battles, wearing their own scars, bleeding from their own wounds, pushing through their own struggles. And move those real live people from the coldness of your cranium to the beating place between your ribs bones and share food and communion there. Look into each other’s soul-windows and watch the Messiah materialize in the image they bear. Hold hands and hug for dear life – all we’ve got is each other. And maybe from this place of kindness and safety, thoughts and convictions can be mutually shared without scathe or savagery or “you’re stupid” words.

3. I hate this day by J.J. Landis. Written in the wake of a local tragedy, J.J. is frank about how our efforts to comfort fall short.

I know in my head what I believe about how the world works. I know we’re fallen and sin screws us up. I know people die, but seriously, it really sucks.

4. Why I Don’t Believe in Grace Anymore by Dr. Kelly Flanagan. Hands-down, when Kelly writes something, I want to read it. This is one of two he wrote recently that I could have recommended.

This is the brilliance of grace: it welcomes our darkness into the light and does nothing to it, knowing that it doesn’t have to, because darkness thrives on hiddenness, and it’s at the mercy of the light. Light drives out darkness, not the other way around.

When we no longer have to push our darkness back down beneath layers of shame our darkness doesn’t stand a chance.

5. Independence by Heather B. Armstrong (dooce). (Warning: This post contains pictures taken inside brothels in Southeast Asia. They are appropriately shocking, but I don’t want them to come as a surprise.) Yes, it’s an uncomfortable subject and it’s hard to talk about and look at, but that’s one reason I’m so glad there are bloggers out there like her who do their part to shine a light on this perverse evil.

Often when we think of that freedom we immediately go to thoughts of our right to free speech, to peaceably assemble, the free exercise of religion and the right to bear arms. I would guess that rarely do we seriously reflect on some of the very basic privileges afforded to us as well: the ability to leave our rooms and homes, the ability to live with our families and the years spent watching them grow, freedom from having to sell our bodies for sex.

Read more: http://dooce.com/2014/07/02/independence/#ixzz37ftn0ZCF

What would you add to this list?