Large dark eyes turn to meet ours…
scraggly brown hair with streaks of orange blond from
malnourishment…
uncombed, dirty, draping below the nape of her neck.
I have seen this little girl before, I recognize her face
my heart sinks. She’s
the one.
the little sister of two of the boys in our street boys
project
the little sister of one of the new girls at our teen mom’s
home
about 9 years old.
¿Dónde está tu casa moi? (where
is your house love?)
She points then runs ahead
bare feet, covered in mud, lightly run along the dirt path
amidst the dirt, the garbage strewn everywhere
her dress stands out…
she wears a princess dress
bright pink satin-like material
puffy sleeves cover her thin shoulders
flowing skirt swishes in the wind as she runs on ahead
perhaps found at a consignment shop, or in the trash,
or borrowed, or stolen but it still retains some it’s former
beauty
my heart sinks. She’s
the one.
I’ve heard her story.
She and her younger sister were taken to the doctor
suspected sexual abuse.
The doctor did not have good news to share.
When asked later if he touches her
she pointed to where.
she wears a princess dress
What has she known of being cherished?
Of being protected? Of being loved?
Of being seen as beautiful, precious and dear?
At such a tender age,
At the hands of men that were created to love and protect
her
Love has been twisted and corrupted by lust
Not cherished but used.
Not protected but abused.
she wears a princess dress
I swallow and blink
I feel the tears, the emotion sweeping over
her image is engraved in my mind
engraved on my heart.
She leads us to the shack she calls home
as I peer in I’m overwhelmed
not just by the poverty of this small one room home
with the one deteriorating mattress and garbage and clothes
littered everywhere
but by seeing with my eyes the place
where this evil dwells.
where Satan has reigned and destroyed.
We came to talk with the mom about her daughter
the one staying at our teen mom’s home.
And I wonder…
did our pregnant 15 year old girl once wear a princess
dress?
Will her little sister become like her
Consumed by bitterness from the pain?
Will her heart harden?
Or somewhere deep down will a flicker of hope remain?
And what of our boys K and C?
Yes it’s true,
K stepped in to stop the oldest brother
from abusing his sisters
But does he really know?
Does he know how to truly cherish and love the women in his
life?
What has he been shown,
As he now at 14 takes in a girl as a “wife”?
What does he know of love?
Do these precious girls know
That their Savior was there, that He saw them
and He sees them?
Do they know that He hates the evil that was done to them
that continues to be done to them?
His wrath burns against it, and it will be punished.
Do they know that He aches for them, longs for them to
come into His arms more than words can possibly express?
Do they know that His love is perfect and pure and can heal
the deepest wounds?
He wants to make them His daughters
true princesses of the Most High God
so that someday…
they will wear princesses dresses
