What Would You Do

When I was in eighth grade I remember a song coming out, the name was “What Would You Do” by City High, and I loved it. It was a very vivid, very sad song about a guy who used to be friends with a girl who was now a prostitute and asking her why and what happened and then her explaining that it was her only option to feed her child. The man goes on to question her and judge her and she explains how much she hates it and how it makes her want to die and how as a kid she ran away with her sister so her dad couldn’t rape her.

LISTEN HERE:

I came across the song again the other day and got excited because I remembered how much I liked it. As a 13 year old I remember thinking it was very intense, as a kid living in an upper-middle class, quiet suburban town none of these things had ever entered my mind and I didn’t know how to fathom them yet it grasped my soul and my heart broke as I listened to it; I was hooked. Little did I know at that time that 11 years later I would find myself surrounded by this on all sides. That I would walk daily and love deeply kids who had this type of a life. That I’d patiently have to explain the value of trusting someone and work tirelessly at helping a kid learn to trust who had been raped numerous times by three different step fathers and who had to run away to escape. Or that I’d walk alongside someone who is constantly acting up and just can’t seem to behave like a “normal” kid because for first first ten years of her life she’d stay at home alone with her brothers and sisters while her mom prostituted herself and her dad brought home all of his druggie friends. That I’d welcome into our orphanage three young girls who were just all raped by the man who was supposed to be protecting them. The stories don’t end there...

At the age of 13 I didn’t know what to do with this song other than hurt and think about how awful that must be. Today I find myself knee deep in it yet full of hope. I know this crap happens now and I hate watching the effects and pain my kids feel daily as a result of it all. Yet when I am in the courtyard playing with them, or in church or the car listening to them sing to God, I hear a hunger in their voices, one that is from deep down in their souls that only someone who has gone through Hell and seen the Light can sing out from. They hunger and yearn for God and look to Him and depend on Him for everything. They need a Savior more than my safe life has ever felt. What has happened to them continues to pain me, yet when I see Christ’s redemption at work I am reminded that He is in control and has a plan and I am thankful for the opportunity to get to walk alongside some of God’s beloved as He reveals His redemption and love to them.