Showing posts with label Dressember 2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dressember 2014. Show all posts

What #Dressember Taught Me


http://www.thea21campaign.org
Each morning this past December, even when I spent the day at home, I got up, got dressed and prepared to meet the day in freedom and grace. 




There were days when I felt depressed and sad for no apparent reason.  Being in a season of mid-life and the realization of time and moments past that didn’t go as well as I had hoped has left me mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally exhausted to the point that I would rather not face some of the days that present themselves.  I know.  Poor me. 



What I have faced and am facing in life is of no consequence as I consider what others are enduring at the expense of greed. 



Each day in December as I dressed and prepared to face life’s demands, I CHOSE to wear a Dress as a symbol of solidarity and encouragement for all things feminine and the many things that are taken for granted and abused when it comes to being wonderfully created as a female by the workmanship of God. 
 
I dressed the way I wanted and went where I wanted.  Not everyone has that choice.  
Some have been trapped by those they thought trustworthy and others were sold by those they love.

“the poor don’t have much in the way of money or possessions to steal—so it turns out that the most profitable thing to steal is the whole person.”
Gary A. Haugen, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence

There are women-many very young and some young men-who have been entrapped by the darkness of the evil one in the sad and wicked sex and slave industry.  Not just around the world but right here in the US and even in our very own backyards. 

Wearing a dress each day, I wondered if anyone noticed, did they pay attention to my “selfies” on social media…

Honesty, I felt self centered at times and thought I would stop participating…then friends began to say things like “you didn’t post a picture of your dress yesterday!”  Oh, they noticed.  

And they were listening if even from a distance and not quite sure how to respond.

http://www.thea21campaign.org

“Every 30 seconds, someone becomes a victim of modern-day slavery.”

All of my picture posting led to a conversation with a friend who asked more about Dressember and then told me what I had dreaded to hear...

She mentioned working part time at a place near a “spa” and how the ladies were never seen outside of the “office” and were ushered quickly each night into a van and driven away. 

“As the world's fastest growing criminal industry, it affects every nation across the globe.”


The place is one I have often considered shady and felt it a place of sex trafficking… but not certain and with no means, experience or qualifications to do anything but pray each time I drive by.  


I feel lame and poorly equipped to make
a real difference. 

But I do have a voice.  Even if small. Even when I think no one is listening. Even when it doesn’t resonate around the globe…my voice resonates in the echoes of the valleys and hills of my community. 

There is a list of 21 things you and I can do to help bring awareness to this injustice in our everyday ordinary. 

The word of God teaches us to Love Mercy and to Do Justice.  I don’t know about you, but I am praying that God will grant me a LOVE for Mercy and that He will show me what I can DO to bring Justice to those who are held captive by those who are nothing more than money hungry or pleasure seeking at the expense of human life that God created. 


God is Worthy and He is Worth It.



Announcing FREEDOM




Well, I made it!! Dressember was a great month! 

While I did not get a picture uploaded every day, I was able to wear a dress everyday this month to show my support and bring attention and awareness to the issue of #SexTrafficking.  

Many of you have asked me what it's all about... 

and THAT is why I participated in this cause!  

To make you ask questions about #ModernDaySlavery.  


While "getting dressed" each day, I thought about women and little girls (and yes little boys too) who are trafficked each day/year and are held in captivity by those who are money hungry, evil and dark. I cannot imagine the horrors that these precious souls have suffered and continue to suffer. 

I set myself a goal to donate $31 ($1/day) for the month as I was able to wear a dress each day.  That amount does not seem like much... 
Little is Much When God is In It. *



Did you know???

An estimated 27 Million are held in bondage around the globe 
(YES even in the USA!!) 
Only 1-2% of victims are ever rescued
The Average AGE of a trafficking victim is 12 years old... 
Info via A21 Campaign



I am not sure what I will do or how I will continue to be involved in this issue of social justice.  
But I do know that I am praying and will do what God places in front of me. 

As I said... Little is MUCH when God is in it... 
and His Word clearly tells us that we were meant to be FREE.  



You can find out more about Human Trafficking on the internet, but here are a few resources you may find helpful as you seek to be a part of the #FreedomMovement in our generation.


A21 Campaign

End It

International Justice Mission


Not For Sale

I am believing God to Set the Captives Free!! AND I am believing that my effort, though small, will be honored in His sight. Will you join me??


*If you would like to give toward this cause, you can follow my Dressember link and make your tax-deductible donation directly to the International Justice Mission.  Money will not be directed to me in any way, but directly to the support of Rescue, and Recovery of the Victims as well as Prosecution of the Offenders.
Only if you feel led. 

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Message



  The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me
    because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
    heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
    pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
    a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
    and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
    give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
    a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”
    planted by God to display his glory


The Word. Worship. Prayer.
These are my Roots.

Note to Self: Free the Slaves

December 1, 2014
Day 1
Dressember

Can I do this? Actually wear a dress everyday for the next 30 days? Can I bring attention to the plight of women around the world who have been captured and held hostage by the brutal enemy of sex trafficking?  Will my voice be heard? Will I make a difference?

I do not have the answers to the questions above.  I don't.  The temptation is to believe that I do not have a voice that is loud enough, strong enough...eloquent enough, educated enough... to make a difference.  But I have a voice.

My voice may be small.
My voice may not have all the answers.
But...
I have a voice.

So I will use my voice- though seemingly limited in my own estimation- to bring awareness to all things feminine and beautiful throughout the month of December.

Breast Cancer awareness was October
Men's Health awareness was November

Why not celebrate the Freedom and Health that is found in Christ alone during the same month we host events and gatherings in His name?  Why not?  Why not BELIVE there is JOY to be FOUND in setting the CAPTIVES FREE?  


Here goes...something...possibly EVERYTHING to someone who has been enslaved. 
Here is my picture from Day 1.  




photo credit Kyle Morris (my favorite youngest son!) and my side kick Abbi Rose #puppylove!


#Dressember   #YouCanDoAnythingInADress
#HumanTrafficking   #EndSlaveryNow


          The Year of the Lord’s Favor


The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
 
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.


The Word. Worship.  Prayer.
These are my Roots.