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Another Year

a birthday prayer

Today, may you be overfilled with goodness from every direction as you rejoice in the privilege of another year on this earth. May you celebrate the little wins that add up to a full life, each year bringing you greater joy and peace with who you are and how far you have come. Amen.

(c) jhp, Prayer Artist, Purpose + Grit, LLC

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Verse of the Day

Check out these August Featured Products from our Creators!

Joyful Faith Creations Celebrate faith in style with our inspirational wristlet keychains! Enjoy 25% off all designs throughout August. Find your perfect piece today! ​ Shop here! ​

Sparrow and Seed Co. New for this month, I created a mini-version of my biggest seller, the Broken Heart Box. This box makes a perfect gift for anyone walking through the painful season of grief after the loss of a loved one. Every recipient will experience encouragement for the days ahead, and the strength to keep going knowing they are loved and never alone in their journey! Shop here! ​

Soul Speak Collection Soul Speak Collection offers a new Collection of Bible covers to protect your soft cover, precious Word of God. They are all handmade from old quilts, vintage lace, bits of this and that, and maybe some buttons. Several different sizes are available. Shop here!

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More from Gritty Faith Magazine

A Story of Hope

Thoughts from a survivor of human trafficking.

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I am not sure when I realized there was hope. Maybe it was in the same breath I realized this wasn’t the life I wanted. Maybe it was when I started to see the small joys of life, as I began stepping into a world I didn’t know or understand. I had gone from a life where I felt I had friends, where I belonged and was accepted with all my faults. I was made to feel special in that life, yet I accepted my punishments, isolations, beatings, as I was forced to do things people should not have to do in order to survive.

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As I escaped that world, I moved into a world where people were nice to me, but were they? What these new people wanted for me—from me—I couldn’t accomplish. The path from being a victim of human trafficking, to becoming a survivor, to thriving in life was a long journey. Many of these nice people did not leave my side, despite the length of the trek. They looked beyond the dark circles of my eyes, wondering who I was beyond the deep sadness. I didn’t choose a life in the “game,” I was picked out of the crowd, just the shy girl who wanted to belong and be loved. Slowly my idea of love and acceptance had morphed into a version that was not comprehensible by someone who had never experienced the world of human trafficking.

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In my early days as a survivor, no words were discussed. Since I had no visible wounds, no bruises, no addiction, I should be just fine. I was told to just move forward, simply get over it. What I had been through was a result of the choices I made, but did I really make those choices? Looking back, I could see the series of bad choices, yet all I had were bad choices to choose from, like dominoes falling. The storm began brewing years before I was sex and labor trafficked.

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As a young woman, I desired to see the world. Adventure called me to Miami, and there I began meeting friends. Soon, I was singled out in a crowd. My midwest roots and desire to belong in my new environment, made me even more vulnerable. I fell in love, got married, and slowly fell into a life of sex and labor trafficking.

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There is much money to be made in the world of drugs, arms dealing, and money laundering. Step by step, I was forced into this terrifying world. When I fell so deep, the writing was on the wall. I made my bed, so I must lie in it. I didn’t see a way out. I began to accept this was my life—no hope, no future—just surviving day to day.

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When I had the strength to dream, I would imagine myself sitting on a mountain top, the sun shining down on my face full of laughter and joy. Free. The idea of being able to decide what I wanted to wear, what I wanted to eat, when I wanted to get my hair or nails done was crazy. “Smile,” I was told, snapping me back to reality. “You need to put on that happy face and perform. You know what happens when you do not listen.”

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By the pure grace of God, I made it back to South Dakota. Yet, hope didn’t instantly come when I returned home. I needed help and guidance to navigate my trauma. I needed someone to help me understand that it was a normal reaction to still have feelings for my trafficker, as the bond was real and strong but was to never return. I needed to rewire my brain, to surround myself with people who wanted nothing from me. I needed help, but help was nowhere to be found.

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It took too many years for me to find that help. Today I pray no victims will ever have to wait as long as I did to be identified. Victims need someone to tell them, “You are worth it. You are not the shivering dog in the corner, waiting for attention and affection. You are a child of God who loves you.”

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The day I surrendered is the day I found hope. I finally stopped fighting the words in my brain. I stopped fighting to be heard, I simply let go. Surrendered. I remember laying on the floor, arms spread wide apart, crying, asking God to take all I have as I belong to Him. “Take all as my life is simply too much. I don’t belong, I am unlovable, unwanted.” But God said, “No! You are loved and my daughter.”

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​Hope comes in the form of love, the people God places in your life who stay when the days are dark, knowing the light will shine again. Hope brings about change, focus, acceptance, and a future. I am no longer that shivering dog in the corner, I am now that hope for others.

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Mary Jackson Mary Jackson is a speaker, educator, and advocator for those victimized by human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual exploitation. She shares her own personal journey as a survivor of cartel trafficking. Her main goal is to educate, lending insight into what human trafficking looks like, the vulnerability and criminality behind the crime. As a coauthor of the book A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Human Trafficking, she has turned her suffering and pain into victory over this horrific crime, sharing her own struggles. Through her work as the Survivor Program Coordinator with Call to Freedom, she contributes vital expertise into survivor supportive services.

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