I Need Help, Can You Help Me Please... Three days ago, we received an urgent phone call for help. Linda ( not her real name) was pregnant and homeless. Her step mom was asking if we could take her. They would travel up for an interview, which was 5 hours one way. We agreed, knowing our other commitments to girls and our limit with the number of in-house-staff we have. The family arrived and we started the interview and 3 hours later it was over. Our questions did NOT take that long, but her broken story took that long to hear. Of the 10 years of working with abused children in the past, her story was one of the worst I have ever heard. When asked if she had ever been abused, her reply was YES. "Could you explain?" Without hesitation and in front of her biological father and step mom, she replied," I have been beat, burned, chained up, raped, verbally abused, and drugged. " Her mother and father were never married, she remained with the mother who participated in the abuse and allowed it all. As the father tried to explain his lack of involvement, I couldn't help but loose focus on him and peer into Linda's heart. What is in there I wondered? There were isolated glances into my eyes and tears at one point when I spoke of our guidelines and the home. She asked me a question about the daily schedule and as she walked to me, I tried to be so gentle and tender with her. Here stood one of God's lambs, broken beyond belief and now carrying a child. Considering this placement took prayer beyond the norm. The answer came when I asked our other girls what they thought? Could they help her? Could they encourage her? Could they be patient with her? My once prostitute said, "She will need to feel love, have it demonstrated to her. That's what turned me around. Not just words, but actions. She must come to experience love." "I love helping people said our adopted girl from a Christian family." Torn between two families from a divorce and terribly shy girl said, "I am willing to help her." Then came the trumpet from our sweet teen who initially came in shackles," It's wrong to say NO. She is asking for help and you all know God here, so you have to help her!!!" I knew my vote was cast after that survey. She will arrive here Monday. Please pray for her and for us as we bandage her wounds, tenderly carry her into motherhood, and allow the Lord to begin a long process. What a tapestry. What a story of rescue. What will she feel as she turns down the sheets on these fresh beds and smells the bacon in the morning? When she hears of the love of God from so many staff members, what will she do with it all? We are assigned to plant the seeds starting Monday and let God do the rest. Thought you might like a peek into the process we go through to bring a girl on board. God bless, N&C