She was given away by her mother at the age of five. The details for this decision are unclear. Desperate people in desperate situations do desperate things. This is almost understandable. The thinking could have been, “I don’t have the resources to take care of my child, so someone else may be better able to take care of her”. If this was the case, then it’s almost understandable. At least there is reasonable logic behind it. But it’s what happened next that is unconscionable.
Posing as a family who could take care of the little girl with curly hair, was easy. Anyone can lie and manipulate. We all do to some extent. Unfortunately, the desperate mother was too easily deceived. The family too deceptive. And because of their deception, the mother released the curly headed girl into the (un)care of the deceivers.
The mother never returned to the home of the family to check on her daughter. For whatever reason she simply disappeared. It’s unknown if the family had anything to do with the disappearance. But it is definitely known they had everything to do with what was to happen next to the girl. She in fact did not become a part of the family – at least not in the proper way.
She did live with them, but not “with” them. She lived on their property, but not in the house. Instead of the people becoming her family, the animals did. To be specific, the hogs. She, in their eyes, was an animal. Another pig perhaps. Perhaps not even on the level of a pig. Because pigs are fed and fattened, for a purpose. But her only purpose was to satisfy the men of the house. A toy. A plaything. An object.
No one can imagine what this girl truly went through. No one! And as you can imagine, she still suffers from the effects of sleeping with the pigs, chickens, and dogs. As time passed she began to see herself as one of them. Unworthy of love. Unworthy of respect and decency. When you have to fight over table scraps with animals that are your equals, the damage it does to you lasts a lifetime. Unless.
Unless one encounters the God who restores, the Godless actions of others is forever damaging. Unless one meets the God who loves, the loveless will be the god of your life. Unless one surrenders to the God who saves, one must surrender to the god that destroys.
Fortunately for the girl who lived with pigs, she has met the One and Only God that restores, loves, and saves.
She has come a very long way in her road of recovery, but you can still see the pain and fear. She doesn’t trust easily, how could she? She doesn’t love recklessly, who could blame her? She doesn’t socialize comfortably, why would she? She keeps her distance and guards herself. But she also smiles, then gets embarrassed. She hugs, then runs away. She engages, then gives space. Little by little she has changed. And it’s a beautiful thing.
