Once U Know

Once you know, you can't go back.

You can't go back to completely normal.  It isn't possible if you have a pulse.

For some, it will be just a blip on their radar, something they now know about but want to pretend it doesn't exist.  They may think that it didn't impact them at all, but the effort to forget about it will be there.  They can't really pretend they don't know.

Others will be outraged.  They will want change and want it now.  Their enthusiasm is commendable.  But when they leave the event or wake up the next day, they move on and pretend to forget.

Still others will be in it for a little longer haul.  They want things to change, and they put in some effort to do so.  But slowly, it will fade and things will go back to semi-normal.

There are others who will hear it and take note.  They will pray and they will plan.  They will plant seeds and allow the roots to take hold.  They will blossom and grow.

It doesn't matter to which group you or I belong, once we know, we can't ever un-know.  We can't ever go back to a life where we thought slavery didn't exist. 

I don't know where you are in the groups above.  I know where I am and where I want to be.  My goal is to make myself more aware.  To pray about this and to plan.  To plant seeds, to watch them grow.  To ensure those around me know 1) I love Jesus, 2) slavery still exists today, more so now than ever before, and 3) there IS something that every person can do about it.  Not everyone will speak, will rescue a girl or boy, will raise funds to help organizations, or blog about it to be in that last group.  But everyone CAN become informed.  And everyone can pray. 

The more we are aware, the harder it will be for traffickers to take our children, to sell our women and girls, to beat and starve our neighbors. 

This blog is my effort to ensure that I don't fade away from this topic.  That I don't become outraged one day and passive the next.  That I plant a seed, no matter how small, and maybe, just maybe, God will bless that seed and help it blossom.  I can't do everything, but I can do something. 

And now that I know, I will never be the same again.

* This video is not mine, but is a video done by daphez2009 on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yptnKmsVmgo)