What if?

>>>WARNING<<<  This is not my normal blog post.  It's not going to make you feel good or give you a warm fuzzy.  If you're my Facebook friend and read this, I challenge you to like or comment on my posting of this blog entry.  Thanks!

Social media is a powerful tool.  If you're reading this, you likely have a Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram account-seriously though you probably have all of them!  You probably know more about what you 500+ friends are doing than what is really going on in the world around you.  The news you see or read is what appears in your newsfeed or the little video clip you clicked on.  You don't have the time or the inclination to really dig for the truth, you take whatever "they" feed you.  You have plenty of time to like the delicious looking plate of food your friend posted, the clothes she just bought her daughter for back to school and the pillow another friends dog shredded all over the house.  Let's not forget the cute videos of the cat saying "hey, hey, he-e-e-ey," the giggling baby or the stupid human tricks.  All these things are easy.  They don't require any deep thought or even consideration.  However social media can be so much more, it can be a tool, a means to educate and a way to bring about change.  What if you used social media differently?

Last year "Fifty Shades of Grey" burst onto the book scene, it was whispered about in book clubs, knowingly chuckled about at the park as we referred to it as "Mom Porn."  I have to admit I read the first book, opened the second but never read more than the first few pages.  It just didn't seem like the kind of thing I wanted to spend my time on.  Plus having a college daughter, I kept envisioning some worldly, savvy Christian shattering the world of my innocent Anna.  What if she was your daughter?

Several months ago the powers that be began casting for the movie version of the book and social media was again all buzzing with who would make the perfect Christian and Annastasia.  Then last week my newsfeed was again blown up with friends anticipating the movie trailer.  The other day when it was released, it was too steamy for television.  I felt uncomfortable because I KNOW what the book was like and I can't even imagine the movie.  I know I certainly do not want my daughters seeing what is bound to be in the movie or even in the trailer. 

So yesterday when a sweet friend posted a link to a blog from Broken Girl called Fifty Shades of Confusion  I in turn reposted it.  Go ahead, take a couple of minutes and go read her blog.  I'll wait here for you....

So did you read it?  Are you still excited about the movie or do you have a new perspective?  How about you transfer that excitement to awareness?  Between 14,500 and 17,500 are trafficked right here in the good old US of A each year!  It's real!  Girls are disappearing, children are disappearing, women are disappearing but it's not feel good, it's not cute and no one is "liking" the posts informing about it.  The picture of my okra from dinner got more likes!  What if your child was sold?

Women need feminism, we need to speak up and be heard.  Quit letting Hollywood shame us into thinking we are less than, even if we joke about it, it is real to so many.  We don't know who has been a victim, who knows a victim or whose husband, father or boyfriend is making them feel less than.  Take some time to educate yourself about trafficking here in America, post an article, share a statistic, let your girls know they don't have to be used.  You my friend may have the crazy blessed life but there are thousands out there who do not.  Do something to make a difference today.  11 Facts about Human Trafficking can be found at DoSomething.org.  What if you did something today?