JBM

To my infant son:

Did you know that--years before you were even born--you were a reason I first became involved with Love146 and decided to start this blog? I remember thinking that I wanted to do something, no matter how small, to try to change this world for the better before you came into it. Although sometimes it seems too big to hope for, I want the trafficking of children to be something that ends while we are both living and breathing on this earth.

Often when you are sleeping in my arms I think of the children I have met, not so many years older than you, who have already experienced the antithesis of childhood and of love. Sometimes it is for them that I tell you over and over again how much I love you, and hold you maybe just a bit too tightly. Part of me looks at your little eyes and ears and never wants you to even know that such evil exists in the world. But I am fiercely aware of my responsibility as your mother: to raise you to love others; to have courage and compassion for what is difficult and heartbreaking; to act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

There are little boys who grow up to be pimps and traffickers and johns, and there are little boys who grow up to be heroes in the fight against injustices, both large and small.  At some point my parental guidance will end and the choices that will determine what kind of man you become will begin. But right now, I will cherish your innocence, hold you in my arms, and pray that your heart never breaks except when it's in compassion for those who need it most.

Image by SanShoot