girls.

I sometimes talk myself into believing that the world has come so far. That women are, for the most part, being treated with the same respect that men garner for simply being male. Of course, I'm lying. I know better. But the talk is the hope, and sometimes the desperate prayer I'm sending to God.

I want to live in a world where young girls and women can dream of having an education, and then go after that dream. I want young girls and women to walk freely under the stars, and then come home safely. I want the roles, all the roles that every one of us has been shoved into at some point in our lives, to evaporate. I want these girls to come home to their weeping mothers, and say, "I'm here, I'm okay".

Father, send them home. This war that has always been waged against women--against the lighthouses of the world--must end. Father, send them home. Shame those who say that our wants and needs are pointless and trivial, destroy those who would only use us for our bodies. Father, send them home. Dry the tears from women's eyes, enough tears to drown every enemy.

I pray that You will not ignore our cries, that You will listen, that You will speak.

The girls are waiting.


(You can read more about the kidnapped girls here.)