Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise

For me, 2013 started not only with a new year but a new fire. God answered a long time prayer for my eyes to be opened to an issue to be passionate over. Long story short, He very quickly opened my eyes to the issue of human trafficking, and more specifically sex trafficking. So a week before the semester started, I dropped a psychology class and added in International Social Work to my spring schedule. Amazingly enough, here we are at the end of the semester-5 months later-and for our final project in ISW we had to read 15 articles on social welfare issues and write a short synopsis of them.

As I read through several different issues, I got to a story about a 4 year old girl in India who was raped, and recently died in the hospital. It made me sick. It made me absolutely furious. I thought no one who would do such a thing to a child deserves to live. And then something stirred in me. I've said it multiple times, I'm so glad God is the judge and not me-I have no pity for those who do horrible acts to children. But the story of the thief on the cross in Luke 23 popped into my mind. This man was a sinner, but even in His worst moment, Jesus forgave him and welcomed him into paradise. I hope that in my quest for justice for those being trafficked that I can learn to love those who are seen as the bad guys too. Not that I can forgive their actions, but to see them as a person loved by Christ and welcomed, just like me, into paradise.