Monday, November 2, 2009

The Forgotten Blessing of Sleep

 It was a typical evening of browsing a few things online, checking my email, facebook, and twitter, it was nothing out of the ordinary. I saw a tweet by Not For Sale and decided to take another look at their website (abolition websites sometimes jumble up in my mind). Usually I’m not a fan of the intros to websites, but this one struck me. The background was dark and there was this little lantern that shed a small area of light and you moved it by moving your cursor to see the words. The words before me was a simple sentence: “Right now, 1 million children are being forced to sell their bodies for sex.”

 Now, I know the human trafficking stats. I’ve heard them dozens of times, I’ve read books and blog posts about slavery, and I have made it a point to educate myself on the human trafficking crisis. But somehow this statistic effected me in a much stronger way then all the others I have heard.

 This may be because I am a teen girl and on that particular night I was getting ready to go to bed. I was about to curl up under the warm covers and sleep (hopefully) peacefully. I had no need to worry about my safety and for me, my bed is a safe place where I can relax and let my worries drift away. Yet there are one million children who don’t have that opportunity.

 Instead of hitting the hay, they are hitting the streets. Instead of night being a time of relaxing, it is a time of work and abuse. Instead of feeling safe in a bed, they are being violated. While the average child or teen in America is whining about having to go to bed, there are one million children who’s greatest wish is to be able to go to bed.

 So often I am struck by the many things I take for granted that would mean the world to someone else. The night when this concept dawned on me, I went to bed more thankful then most of the other nights in my life. Hopefully tonight I’ll go to bed more thankful as well, and not only thankful to the God that has blessed me, but begging the same God for the deliverance of those that are slaves to sin and to man.

3 comments:

  1. A great reminder, Olivia. I'm most struck with a realization of my own selfishness when I compare myself with those who are no less valuble than I, yet suffer under conditions I can't imagine. Thanks for this reminder,

    Camden

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  2. Wow. Great post!

    Funny how we take things for granted a lot here in america. Whining about the weather not being right, the car not working and the traffic jams. Then we get jolted by something like that and we wake up a little.
    Realizing that we really are blessed here in the US and we should be thankful.

    Thanks for the reminder =)

    --Marissa

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  3. great post, i vol. with not for sale in NC and have been faced with many of the same feelings as you have ...keep fighting and praying!
    suzie stogner

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