Wrong Turn

Last night I as I was coming back from Puebla with Craig and Joe, I was trying to get a little sleep after a crazy week. Getting a little sleep in the back set of a car with two guys is not the easiest thing - first, it's cold enough to open an ice cream stand in the car and second, they tend to like to play speed racer so you bounce around all over the place. I finally had dozed off to wake up in Mexico City not too far from my house. We had to turn around on a major street and as we turned the corner, I saw them - 2 prostitutes standing on the corner.

Now, I'm not a sheltered or naive person by nature, but I had never experienced the emotions that I did in that moment. As the our headlights revealed their faces, they looked so young. The deep sadness of their lives hit me. These are young women - daughters, sisters (and many probably mothers) with hopes and dreams. They were little girls who dressed up as princesses and dreamed of their knight in shinning armor coming on a white horse to sweep them away in a cloud of romance. They played with dolls and braided their hair. But there they stood on the street corners in Mexico City.....selling their bodies to earn a living.

I think it's easy for us to think of prostitutes as dirty or as those who don't deserve a better life. Maybe I've thought that before. I don't think I'll soon forget those young faces dressed up seductively to entice men. I think of Jesus....of how he ate with those women - how he gave them dignity - how he gave his life for them.

My life has been focused on the things that make me happy or comfortable lately. I've been angry that some of my dreams haven't worked out the way I hoped. As I climbed into my safe and warm bed last night, I couldn't help but remember how blessed my life really has been. I hope that some day these girls can lay their heads down experiencing the same rest.