When we first laid eyes on "Daisy," she was hardly ready to come with us. She did not know that her scent, her skin, her eyes, her clothes were weighed down by years of neglect and mistreatment. She was young—just nine years old—yet somehow aged with bravery and filled with memories we would soon learn. As she drew near to us and we drew near to her, layers of fear and exhaustion shed. We gave her a long, warm bath, where the dirt of world she had known swirled down the drain. The hope of something different wrapped around her as we dressed her with fresh clothes bought just for her. She was beginning to awaken to the reality that there was another sort of love out there in the world: a sort of love that she could have for her own.
We took her clothes and tattered shoes, which were hardly recognizable as such, and could do nothing with them but throw them into the furnace. Although we knew it would be much harder to burn away the years of brutality, neglect, and abuse, we prayed that this was a rescue that would change this little girl forever.
As the months since meeting Daisy have passed, she has begun to find her place in her new family. Though memories of her former life tap on her shoulder from time to time, we continue to remind ourselves of the day we found her, scared and ragged. If the Lord could rescue her from that place, we are confident that He will not stop rescuing and healing her.