The Call

To the women who have the courage to speak but are called liars.  The ones who know God hates the mistreatment of his daughters.  To those who understand that misinterpretation and manipulation of scripture for selfish desires is wrong.  For the women who have chosen to escape the abuse.  The women with fathers who taught them they deserved less. To the wife who is 29 years deep in a marriage that has robbed her of her identity through a husband's forced hand.  To the Mother who is called stupid and dumb by her sons because it is what is expected.  To the woman who believes she is worthless, and unworthy of love.  To the woman who has been brave enough to make the tough choices and is met with criticism.  To the mothers of daughters who long for their baby girls to be valued and cherished.  To the mothers of sons who understand that what their sons see as boys is what they will do as men.  To the women who remain in the codependent cycle and are unable to recognize it.  To the sisters in denial of the reality.  To the wives who have not been allowed to heal.  To the wives who have taken the blame on themselves for the sins of their husbands.  To those women who think "it isn't that bad" or "he never hit me".  To the women who believe they deserve to be shaken or called a demeaning name.  To the women who are told to submit more and nag less.  The women who continue to try harder to be better.  To the wives who have sacrificed life itself in the name of faithfulness.

....To these, I stand with you, I stand for you.  I stand in the truth that God loves and values you, you are his creation and you are not dumb or stupid.  It is wrong for anyone to suggest otherwise.    

To the brothers, fathers, uncles, nephews, cousins, step-dads, pastors... where are you?  Are you standing with your sisters in Christ?  Or are you standing in the middle, afraid to offend, afraid of being rejected by man?  Do you stand in the truth of our great Judge? Or do you cower in the corners of technicalities and manners?  Are you avoiding God's tugging to present truth to those who need it?  Are you ignorant to the cancers in our body?  Are you showing Christ's love to those women?  Are you enabling the sin to continue? Who are you protecting?  or What are you protecting?  A reputation? Secrets?  

I urge you to strive to know God's heart on this matter.  Stand against darkness, secrets, the objectification and mistreatment of your sisters.  Stand up for those who don't value themselves.  Stand up for the ones who are breaking the silence.  Allow God to remove the blindfolds!  Be lights in the darkness.  

To the women who remain silent or even stand against the sisters who are being oppressed and pushed down both literally and figuratively. To the women who have chosen the side of darkness because you are too comfortable in the dark place, and fear has kept you there.  To the mothers who stand with their sons because blood has a hold on you, because you are fearful of losing a relationship.  

I am sorry no one allowed you to have a voice and you are repeating what is being done to you.  My heart breaks for you.  But I stand up for you as well in hopes that one day you will see the truth, that you will know the true love of your heavenly Father.  That you will know you were created for a greater purpose.

To the men who have been guilty of inflicting the pain, but have taken the road less traveled.  The ones who, by God's healing power, have come out on the other side.  Have repented and experienced God's mercy and grace and have turned around a marriage.  The ones who have had soft hearts.  The ones who have allowed the love for God to win out over pride.  

I thank you.  Thank you for being a testimony, for allowing God to use your story.  Thank you for being part of breaking a generational sin.  Please help others who are where you have been, do not be ashamed of your story, be bold for God, be bold for those who are stuck.  I am asking you to share your story for God's glory!  Yours is a powerful story of God's redemptive power!

This is a call for all.  We need our women to be healthy, and we need our men to be healthy.  We need our churches to be healthy.  We need to be a light that overcomes the darkness.  "Oh Lord break our hearts for what breaks yours!"