Over My Head and Holding On

9/29/23

Hi Beautiful/Handsome Person,

Have you ever done anything where you knew, going into it, you were in over your head and therefore it’s gonna be an oh-so-uncomfortable experience? 

This week’s been full of them! Here’s a couple . . . 

I’ve been taking an online ‘masterclass’ on speaking. After each class I’m like, “WHAT were they talking about???? I’m NEVER going to be able to get this week’s homework figured out!!” And to be honest, there’ve been one or two assignments I’ve submitted that left the facilitators scratching their heads. 

Ah well, the goal is to become a better speaker; hopefully I’ll have made some progress towards that aim when all is said and done. 

This class may seem a bit (a bit?!?!?) out of my league, but the September 2023 issue of “Reader’s Digest” magazine had some submissions I could better relate to and literally ‘lol’ed at. They were taken from reddit.com and under the intro, “The Moment I Realized I Wasn’t As Smart As I Thought”. 

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but this one’s the shortest so I’ll go with it: “When someone told me they had the same name as me, I said, “Really? What’s your name?” 

Gotta to share another: “I was shopping for clothes when I spotted someone I recognized. We made eye contact and smiled at each other. It was just then I realized I was walking towards a full length mirror.”

Ok, just one more: “I said, ‘I’m consistent, just not all the time.’ And it really had to be pointed to me.”

Yep, definitely my kind of people, and experiences! 🙂

I went to a friend’s wedding this past week. That had it’s own moment of ‘get me outta here’!! 

It was a lovely ceremony and I was so glad to have been there to support my friends. It’s been a blessing to witness their relationship blossom. 

However, at the end of it I realized a former friend (‘ff’) who now considers me her mortal enemy and an agent of satan was there, too. 

Certainly didn’t want to cause drama for the Beautiful (in all ways) Bride and Groom so I’m sooo glad to have RSVP’d ‘yes’ to the ceremony and ‘no’ to the reception; that ‘ff’ can make Carrie’s (from that Steven King movie) expression of rage seem benign! (Yikes!) 

I know ff completely misconstrued the situation that set her off ‘back when’, but she’s not inclined to hear the truth so all I can do is pray she opens her mind to see the different perspective and let it go. (AND avoid her until her ‘Carrie-like’ rage no longer trips the ‘fight or flight’ response. I’m considering carrying a small fire extinguisher from now on in case I run into her again!)

Now back to the class I’m taking . . .

This week’s assignment is to write a three minute introduction for the talk. I’ve written two so far; was told by a friend the first one would be a bit too intense for the opening paragraphs, therefore leaving the audience too uncomfortable. (Good! That way I won’t be the only who feels that way!)

But I took heed and this is the second attempt:

Hello Good People ~

First, I commend and thank you! You took the time to come to a seminar about a subject that many find too difficult, unbelievable, undesirable or undeserving to acknowledge. It takes much courage, heart, and compassion to choose to be part of a growing force that is shedding light on a subject that has been proliferating in the dark for far too long now. I believe this is the beginning of a process that, with God’s guidance and sovereignty, will stem the growth of the horrific crime of this century’s surge of human slavery.

Tim Ballard, the real life protagonist that the movie “The Sound Of Freedom” is based on has said: “It’s funny because we all read history and we think, ‘oh I would have risen up’, ‘I would have fought’, ‘I would have been an abolitionist’ and I tell them, ‘no you wouldn’t have.’”

I, Pearl, add: “That’s not really our fault if we don’t know what to look for to begin with.”

There are many misconceptions about what child sex trafficking actually looks like.

Proverbs 16:1 says: “The preparations of the heart belong to people, but the answer of the tongue is from God,”

I’m here to plant a seed of knowledge into your heart about sexual slavery in order for you to have a better understanding of what it is and how it effects a child and the adult a survivor becomes. God’ll tell you what to say or do if you ever face the reality of this evil. 

Rebecca McDonald, the founding warrioress of Women At Risk, International has said that you can quote statistics, such as, there are 2,000,000 children of all ages in the bondage of sexual slavery in the world right now; WAR recently rescued a three month old infant in Grand Rapids whose mother was trying to sell her. 

There are close to 50,000,000 victims and survivors of all types of trafficking living amongst us.

It’s the fastest growing crime because drugs or weapons run out and cost money to replace while those who are trafficked can be used over and over with little investment of money, and even less investment of care. In their estimation children are disposable and easily replaced.

United States of America is one of the top three countries for trafficking, with Michigan being the fifth highest ranking state. Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing  and Mackinac Island are amongst the top six cities in Michigan.

But according to Rebecca, all those statistics do not effect people like meeting one survivor does. So hi, I’m Pearl, the one child sex trafficking survivor you’re going to get to know just a leeeetle bit today. 

(End of intro.)

Well, that’s what’s been written so far; we’ll see what else comes up over the next few days.

Looking forward to meeting you back here at pearlunchained.com next week!

Dave Grohl says the Foo Fighters’ song, “Times Like These” is about being ’scared but hopeful’ and ‘like I wasn’t entirely myself’, and deepening of ‘hope and love and compassion’.

Perfect description of life lately! Can’t find what I’m made of without those cringeworthy uncomfortable moments that grow me up a little bit more every time, push me further out of my  comfort zone, and help to grow deeper abilities to be more loving, hopeful and compassionate.