Ugly crying in Barnes and Noble

Today, Malala was my undoing since coming home from Nepal. Abby and I had a date at Barnes and Noble while we had an hour and a half to kill before going back to Jakob's preschool for a party. On a display table near the kids section, I was struck by the cover of this book Malala's Magic Pencil. I was so drawn to pick it up, read it out loud to my 7 year old daughter and soak in each beautifully illustrated page. That is until about half way through the book when I suddenly became undone.

Please note the hospital gown and bracelet. The truth and reality- this precious teenager was shot in the head on her school bus. The Taliban raided her school bus one day, in search of her, with hopes of killing her. What came after and how she even survived this attack is nothing short of a miracle. 

I have 11 blog posts drafted about my time in Nepal, half of which highlight businesses that I met while I was there. Businesses that opperate on a mission- to employ women who might not otherwise find dignified work. Some employ women who are victims of human trafficking, widows, young women trying to put themselves through school, single Mom's, refugees, and so on.

"we simply seek to provide work that restores dignity to these women." 

You see, anti-human trafficking, "rescue mission" work etc. is all so wonderful... and frankly trendy right now among Westerners. This isn't to say that those things are bad, they are raising awareness and I have seen great work come out of them!

The big take away for me in my first meeting, less than 24 hours after I had arrived in the country, was realizing that by placing labels like those listed a few sentences above can actually do more harm for these real life women.

They don't need to be labeled because of their past,
their cast, or their life situation. 

What these businesses speak into these women is simply this- 

You are not who you were, what has been done to you, what you were born into or what society even labels you as. Let us love you, teach you, equip you, employ you, provide for you, surround you in Truth so that you may know Hope and become a new creation. 

~

You can watch a short YouTube video narrated by Malala herself on the importance of sharing her story to young kids.

You should just buy this book here on Amazon. It is so good.

This is just the children's story book. I have the 9.5 hour long audiobook "I am Malala" streaming now. And tissues nearby.