I’ve read much and have posted quite a bit about human trafficking over the past few years. My husband NP even put on high heels and walked a mile with me. I have felt strongly about trafficking for a while now, but a few days ago this issue became much more personal as I read through the story of a lovely young woman who found herself trapped in sexual slavery in New York city and was nearly sold in Saudi Arabia.

It was personal because I knew this girl. We wore matching ugly maroon plaid uniform skirts at our Christian school. I made a fool of myself line dancing with her brother in our friend’s garage. She was a sweet girl that we all loved… and this story just was too horrible to be true.

But sadly, it is true.

I knew right away that I had to introduce Rachel Louise to you all and spread the news of her story; I want to encourage you to read her book, not just because of the importance of the issue of trafficking, but because of the power of her testimony. As she says in the introduction to her book,

“This book is shouting of His miracles. It is the story of God’s movement to save my life from becoming one caught in a life of sexual abuse, God’s saving my life from becoming one potentially lost in a foreign country, and God’s redemption of my life to bring me to fullness and healing.”

Rachel has truly walked through the “valley of the shadow of death,” and she found God to be faithful even in the midst of horrific times. Her experiences also are critical for us to be aware of because she stands in stark contrast to who most of us typically imagine to be the average victim of sexual slavery and human trafficking. She was a young woman who knew and loved the Lord, seeking to save herself for marriage. She didn’t find herself interfacing with a trafficker out of destitute circumstances or desperation – she was just trying to do her job.

So with that introduction, I want to introduce you to my friend and share our conversation regarding her book, Almost Sold. Thank you, Rachel, for sharing your heart with us today.

What do you most want people to take away from your story? How have you seen God work through your testimony in the lives of others?

I want people to take away the pure miracles that God did, and with that, the reassurance and praise that God will always protect and provide for His children. I also want people to take away the tactics that I describe in the book regarding how I was caught and held captive by Hassan. There are some basic manipulation tactics that we can arm our loved ones against so that they are not caught.

I have seen God doing so very much through this testimony! I have had people tell me they are now educated based on my story, had people tell me they received Christ though this testimony, and had people tell me that listening to this story gave them the confidence they needed to speak out about their own troubles so they can get help.

During the time when you were captive in New York, were there particular Scriptures that the Lord used to speak to you and comfort you with His presence? What role did your own background in the Word and Scriptures you had memorized earlier in your life play in how He ministered to you?

There were some scriptures that God used to help me, absolutely. One was “I will never leave you or forsake you”. It not only reminded me that God was with me, but I held onto that fact of God not leaving me like a lifeline. I remember thinking “God you CAN’T leave me alone because you promised!” It was the only real thing I could hold onto in such an unknown situation.

He also spoke to me the verse that there is no condemnation or shame in Him. Also that He hears our cries and counts our tears. It helped me to know He was aware of how horrible it was and how desperate I was.

What three or four pieces of advice would you offer to young women? What do you wish someone had told you before all of this unfolded?

#1 As cliche as it sounds, the real world is not like television (example, meeting someone you don’t know for a business dinner at 10pm)

#2 If you are uncomfortable with the situation, there is nothing wrong with saying no. Or saying you can’t today, perhaps another day (so the pressure of urgency is off).

#3 Make a plan right now for various life troubling scenarios. Such as, now, I have practiced what I would do if I were in some kind of trouble- I would go to the police station and ask for help. A suggestion is to even write out what you would say or ask. Such as, I need to speak with someone about a bad situation I am in, can you help me? I did not have this plan in place, and it felt like my brain froze when I was actually in the situation.

#4 No matter what, you do not have to agree to anything you do not feel 100% ok with. There will always be another solution, even if you do not see it. Even if you are broke, have sinned, have promised, have bragged about it, have pressure to do it.

How would you recommend we educate our families (and specifically our daughters!), churches, and communities about trafficking and sexual slavery?

Education of our families is so very important. I think that we need to explain to our daughters, especially while they are still in high school, about the dangers of these predators. We need to tell them about the manipulation tactics, about waiting at least 24 hours to think when someone is pressuring them for an answer to a decision, about stories like this and that it can happen to anyone.

People who prey on girls in this manner pick those who are naive or people pleasers. We do not have to be graphic to explain these dangers. I honestly might have boarded the plane to Saudi Arabia if it had not been for the high school assignment of watching “Not Without My Daughter,” as I explain in the book. Making sure our daughters and all loved ones know that they can always talk to you no matter what situation they have gotten into is also very important.

How has this experience and your subsequent journey of healing impacted your relationship with God? Your relationship with others?

This experience, and journey of healing after, has grown my relationship with God in a very sweet way! Because God was the only One I had to talk to while in captivity with Hassan, I began to develop a very intimate relationship with Him. It was literally just God and me for weeks!

Once home, that intimacy remained. God began to speak to me in the “short hand” vernacular we had developed in that isolated and devastating time. Now that I have experienced emotional healing, moved onto a career and school, moved on to other life issues, that special vernacular and intimacy has remained and is priceless. He has walked me through all the healing, and been the most loving and gracious Savior.

Almost Sold is available in format for Kindle as well as in a print edition.

Today I also have the privilege of giving away two copies of Almost Sold, in your choice of ebook or print formats! To enter to win a copy, simply leave a comment below telling us why you’d like to read Rachel’s story, or who you would like to share it with.

Want an extra entry? We’d so appreciate you helping to raise awareness about this issue. Tweet or share this post on facebook and leave separate comments letting me know how you helped to spread awareness about trafficking and Rachel Louise’s story.

Winners will be selected randomly from the total number of comments. Giveaway will close at 10pm EST on Friday June 21, 2013.

I hate to break it to us, girls… but it’s a lie, you know.

Rosie’s been lying to us since 1942. But the lie started long before then.

Isn’t that what Satan whispered into the hearts of Eve? The masses of people gathering to build the Tower of Babel?

The lie has been the same all along.

We can do it.
We don’t need God, at least not for this part – we’ve got it under control!

The same lie echoes in our minds today. Yes, even in the minds of good Christian girls who love Jesus!

Only sometimes the lie sounds like this… “I’ll try harder.”

Why do I keep yelling at my kids?
“Maybe it’s just because it’s the end of the school year and we’re tired. I’ll try harder this summer.”

I know I need to be loving and patient, but there I go gossiping and losing my temper again.
“I’ll try harder. I’ll buy myself a nice ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ plaque, and that will help remind me.”

I can’t seem to get a hold of my schedule and use my time well!
“I’ll try harder. I’ll start an ‘organization and time management’ board on Pinterest.”

We flex those muscles of will and good intentions and eventually fall flat on our faces. The lie sinks deeper, weighted by additional helpings of guilt – because we already tried harder, and failed again. Obviously that’s just who we are – big failures who can’t do it.

We get ourselves mired in all kinds of defeat and discouragement when we approach our lives with an “I can do it” attitude. The scandalous truth of the Gospel is that you can’t!

That “nothing” in John 15:5 haunts me.

Do I really believe, deep down, that apart from Him I can do nothing? Far too often I think I’m baring my muscle, giving God a quick nod of thanks for my salvation, and then digging down deep and coaching myself that I can do it. I just need to try harder.

Just as I was dependent upon Him on the day of my salvation, I am utterly dependent upon Him every single day – I need Him to recreate me from inside out, to transform me into the Kristi He meant me to be.

We so often buy the lie that our freedom lies in independence; we can do it on our own.

But real freedom is found in dependence upon Jesus. Freedom is found in coming to Him everyday in full awareness of our need and clinging to Him, crying out in our hearts,

“O Lord – I can’t!
No matter how hard I try on my own, I can’t!
But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I am being so impatient with my kids!
“O Lord, change me! Enable me to parent them in love and wisdom – I need you!”
I am struggling to love her!
“Lord, I know my words come from the overflow of my heart – change me! Cause me to see her and love her like you do!”

Stop trying harder, girls – you can’t do it on your own.

But lean harder into Jesus, and you will find real freedom in that place of dependence.

The day had not started well.

Daddy was away for work, Mom wasn’t feeling terribly well, the schedule was full, the kids were tired. It had all the makings of an epic and disastrous day.

Five-year-old LB and I had had several “rounds” before breakfast. And at breakfast. And then I heard the quiet aside to his sister, “Mom is always bossing us around.”

Oh, dear. Ever have one of those parenting moments when you thought that steam might literally be pouring out of your ears? Yep.

I sent him upstairs, mostly so I could collect my thoughts. And pray.

Because honestly, I am not, deep down, the patient and wise mother I want to be. My words tumble out hot and irritated far too often. And so I claim absolutely no responsibility for what the Lord brought to mind: this was the perfect opportunity to live the Gospel.

I went in to talk with him. With the words only the Holy Spirit can whisper into an angry mother’s heart!

“You said that you didn’t want me bossing you around.
Can you think of anyone in the Bible who didn’t want God bossing them around?”

He mumbled their names almost inaudibly as I walked Him through the Bible.

Adam and Eve.
Cain.
The people in Noah’s day.
The people building the tower of Babel.

“Who, before any of them, really didn’t want God to be the boss?”

The whisper sank lower. “Satan.”

“Who have you been acting like, when you choose to defy Mom and refuse to follow her?”

“All those guys.”

“Yes, buddy. What happens when we sin against God and rebel against Him? It breaks our relationship. What happened because Adam and Eve refused to trust and obey God?”

“They had to leave the garden.”

“That’s right. Their relationship with God was broken. They couldn’t walk with Him anymore. They wanted to be their own boss, and it broke everything.”

And so… LB stayed in the guest room for a while that morning. I told him he could be his own boss in that room – do whatever he wanted. But he could not come out and join the family until he was willing to repair our relationship and submit to my leadership.

Eventually we talked further. He had to confess verbally to me what he had done and ask for forgiveness.
We talked about 1 John 1:9 and what it means to confess our sin to God. We talked about what it means to have Jesus as our King and to choose to obey Him, to submit ourselves to His rightful rule in our lives. We prayed together and hugged and started fresh.

I would love to say the rest of the day unfolded beautifully. It didn’t, including an incident with water all over the bathroom ceiling and walls. *ahem.* But even then, it gave us a chance to walk through the Gospel once again – you have chosen to disobey, to go your own way. The relationship is damaged. Forgiveness is available, when we come with true sorrow over our sin.

I write this simply as an encouragement to my fellow moms in the trenches -

Motherhood is hard and completely draining. I find it far easier to nag, lecture, and lose my temper than I do to intentionally disciple my kids.

But when we soak our own minds in the hearts in the Gospel, when we come empty and ask for Him to enable us, to cause us to use the daily opportunities that the daunting task of constant discipline provides us… He will give us wisdom to teach little hearts to love Him as Savior and fear Him as Lord.

Father, teach us to cling to the Gospel. Even in time-out.

Shnk.

I started shoveling behind our house yesterday.

Shnk.

We moved a few months ago – someday maybe I’ll tell you more about that. It’s a good story.

We moved into a home with good bones, a beautiful property, and “great potential.” You know, the kind of potential that requires a lot of shoveling.

Shnk.

The back of the house is a mess. Well, really all sides of the house are a mess. Neglected for years, any intentional landscaping that had once been here had, over time, turned into a weedy, muddy thicket. I use that term literally.

Shnk.

So, I started digging outside the basement doors.

Shnk.

Lo and behold, I hit something.

Chnk.

Patio paver?

Scrape.

I kept digging my shovel in, testing the area.

Chnk.
Chnk.
Chnk.
Chnk.

Sure enough, there are pavers under there.

Quite a few pavers, actually. Calling it a “patio” is probably a stretch, but there’s a usable flat ground under there. I just have to clear away the thicket that grew overtop!

Somewhat energized by my archaeological dig, I kept going.

Shnk.
Chnk.
Scrape.

And as I did, I finally knew what to write here on this blog that has been languishing in silence.

You see, we’ve had so much on our hearts and minds for so long. So much on the calendar, so many meaningful conversations and special times with the Lord and answers to prayer. After a while, the silence became oppressive – I just didn’t know where to start. How can I express these weighty months in words?

The sounds of my shovel rang in my ears.

Shnk.
Chnk.
Scrape.

It’s been a digging time. A time to dig through weeds and sediment and withered past attempts and scrape down to what was there all the time. A time to look at what this really is all about.

In life and marriage and ministry, we’ve been in a season of examining who God has made us to be, called us to be. We’ve been pushed to cling to the Gospel as more than a one-time event, but a way of life. We’ve taken steps of faith and worried and surrendered and held on again and surrendered again and gotten confused and tripped and clung to Him again and He has been faithful. So faithful.

So we continue to dig.

Shnk.
Chnk.
Scrape.

Scrape down to the bedrock. Get rid of the extraneous.

• What is the Gospel? Not just the point of conversion… what is the Gospel lived out in everyday life?
• What is a disciple?
• What does it look like to live devoted to God and His ways?
• What does a Gospel-saturated family look like?
• What does a Gospel-saturated ministry look like?

Some answers come easier than others. Some roots are deep and painful to remove.

I want to start sharing our journey through the dig. I’d like to start writing again, but I’ll tell you right now that I’m going to be a big blogging failure. I literally don’t remember my twitter password. I don’t know how often I’ll post. Marriage and family and ministry and homeschooling have to take precedence. I’m going to take the comment form off the blog – because frankly, I am bad at responding to comments!

But you are welcome, oh so welcome, to read and dig with me. I would love to hear from you on facebook, or send me an email.

We just might discover something we didn’t know we were missing.