Inspiration

A butter cookie crumbles into a serious message of freedom

Shelley

On behalf of snickerdoodle lovers everywhere, I’m going to attempt to butter you up to read a surprise post like none other I’ve done before.

Wait…this sounds like I’m writing about food again doesn’t it?

Yeah, I know, I told you in my last post that I hadn’t become a foody blogger. But, I couldn’t resist using something to manipulate you into reading something more important than a cookie.

‘Cuz when a sweet cookie makes an appearance, it just has to take a lead role before I can get into bigger and more important things for you dear readers to ponder this week.

These beauties were yummy. They did not turn out looking as delicious as the ones in the photo on IBreatheImHungry.com – recipe here. The butter factor melted them into one another.

These delights are crumbly and are low-carb and gluten free. And Mr. and I were both surprised by how similar to the traditional cookie recipe they tasted. The small batch of 16 cookies are already gone, so I may need to make more?

Hang on folks. . .don’t grab a cookie crumble and leave just yet!

Like I said, there’s a bigger, more important, shocking nugget of truth for you to read about.

It’s serious, and not so in-character for my blog posts. I hope you stick around and hear me out.

Ready? Have I buttered you up enough?

It’s a topic that isn’t something to snicker about. It’s more common than any of us know, or want to believe is happening all around the world.

It is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world.

It’s time for the world to wake up and pay attention. Like Candace says just minutes into this video, I, too, was ignorant to the horrors of child sex trafficking. 30 million people are enslaved, including about 8 million children – enslaved for sex, labor, or organ harvesting.

Since I’ve been jailed to home due to the ridiculous (yeah, sorry, I believe they are) lockdown measures, I decided to learn more about something I hadn’t learned about yet.

The efforts of freeing children from horrible crimes against humanity.

Once I learned more about this, I MUST share, it’s the least I can do.

To save lives!

If you’re afraid of a virus that’s been here for just this past year, this is much worse as it has been ongoing for years. We humans need wake up.

We need to be saving the lives of children trapped and trafficked in not only open areas of the Middle East, but in underground tunnels where we may even walk upon every day. They’re down there barely alive and being tortured by monsters.

We’ve been saving other lives from a virus that’s airborne and soon to take flight and be gone. We’ll be free to fly again – maybe? If by my sharing this information I can help just one human gain their freedom, it’s worth it, right?

If it’s just for the one, it’s worth it.

OUR – Operation Underground Railroad

Us humans have been ‘doing’ things to save lives together for the past year.

Saving lives by staying home. Safely.

Unfortunately, some children whose parents are essential workers have left them all alone at home to do online schooling, on the internet, where traffickers lurk. It could even happen to a family who is right there with their kids at home, thinking they’re safely doing their homework.

What about families that couldn’t stay employed who have children who ran away or were bought on the streets to do labor to stay alive? They matter.

All can become victims enslaved by strangers making money off of them. Repeatedly.

For those of us who think slavery is gone, or it’s not happening in the US, or the rest of the world – it’s not gone – it’s real. But, hopefully not here to stay.

Thanks in part to the efforts of Operation Underground Railroad.

The movie will be released to the public soon.

It’s all about saving children’s lives that were buttered up originally by strangers who took/take advantage of their innocence and their desires to better themselves. Like what happened to Rachel.

Will you butter up someone for the good to combat the bad people? Please share a message to awaken anyone who will listen and help save lives.

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “butter.” Use it as a noun, use it as a verb, use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

PS – Please chat amongst yourselves about one nugget you learned today by reading this post. Even if it’s about the cookies, your thoughts matter here!

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

44 thoughts on “A butter cookie crumbles into a serious message of freedom”

    1. I don’t know, you’re right though – it’s despicable.
      Did you know that the movie was recently shared to a private group in Vegas? The last weekend in February.

      1. I did see that somewhere online, not on the tube. I can’t think about something like that without getting really angry. Humans instinctively need and want to be free.

  2. Shelley, thank you for this post. These horrors are going on right beneath our noses. So many of these child disappearances are sex trafficking.

    My prayers go out to the victims.

    1. Hi, and thank you, Drew! Yes, it is so horrific. I feel shame that I didn’t pay attention to the limited info being shared all these years. Their voices need to be heard!
      Thank you for your prayers! xx

          5. And now I wonder how in the world you’ll keep up with your blog and YouTube – and write poems, you’re a Super Hero!!

  4. I’ve been following this for some time. This is horrifying, and sick. What bothers me a lot is the number of unaccompanied minors (or minors accompanied by people who aren’t their parents) coming into this country from south of the border. A lot of them are being detained in facilities that are either called cages or detention facilities depending on who the President is, but what happens to them? If they’re sent back to Mexico, someone will just bring them back; if they’re let go into the population, they’re prey for the human traffickers. It’s a Catch-22 there. You can try to get them adopted, but who’s to say that the adoptive parents aren’t involved in the business? Placing them in foster homes is potentially as bad as cutting them loose. It’s a huge problem that’s been going on for years. Here in Georgia, they’ve managed to break up a few rings, but it’s like a starfish: cut off one arm and another just grows back, and the arm generates a whole new starfish. Breaking up a ring results in two more rings…

    1. You’ve hit on so many key points about the whole ugly ordeal. Thank you for sharing what you know. It is a horrific mess, and now with the borders open, it’s only going to add to the issues and to the trafficking.

  5. It’s a big scary business. Folks have been disappointed in our Governor Kemp here in Georgia but he has been in high pursuit of these creeps and made a big arrest recently. Forty kids from 3-17 years old found. Thanks for writing about this critical topic

    1. Yes, it’s a BIG scary business. I read about that big arrest lately. I believe in supporting anyone who is making attempts to stop crimes against humanity. Thank you kindly for sharing your words of support.

  6. Yes, it is scary and so tragic. My friend’s husband is a detective and I hear more than I’d like about child trafficking. Important to know the signs to look out for. I’ve heard child abuse rates are up because of the stressors of the pandemic; chances are, other abuses are, too.

    1. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Rebecca. I’m sure the firsthand stories you hear aren’t fun to listen to. It’s not a new thing, but it continues to grow, and I find bits of hope knowing there are arrests and there are children being saved. Awareness helps us be alert.
      Yes, it makes me sad too about the abuse due to the stressors of the pandemic. I pray for those children too.

  7. I am aware of human trafficking and slavery, but not to this extend, Shelley. Thirty million humans? That is hard to swallow and so inhumane and evil. Sometimes I feel that the darkness of the world is overtaking the light because we’re not paying attention or trying to create change. And, as with BLM, when someone tries to make a difference, it’s met with denial, anger and more violence. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to create a world where the majority of people show kindness, but I am sure it’s going to be a long road.

    1. Thank you for sharing your heartfelt thoughts, Mary. Sometimes we have to see the darkness in order to be moved to stopping it before we can be on our way to lightness. There’s always a ray of hope, and I pray that by my sharing this information more prayers and action will be taken to save those who deserve freedom from the evil.
      Kindness is a beautiful gift to bestow. xx

  8. Oh Shelley – those Snickerdoodles look just like how I remember them back in the day when someone in the house baked cookies all the time (that would be Mom, not moi). They look delicious even if they are healthy for you. 🙂 As to the trafficking part of this post, we have posts almost daily in my community’s Facebook page about missing teens, some even younger. Parents don’t know anymore whether their kid/teen has just plain run away after a squabble with their parents or whether something worse has happened. Predators are everywhere and it is sickening to what lengths they go to.

    1. Thanks, Linda – I think you’d enjoy the cookies if you enjoyed the ones your mom made for you!
      While it’s hard to see so many messages about trafficking, it is helping us see the depth and extent of it and to encourage the continued disruption of those executing the rings. It is sickening to what lengths they go to. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. xx

      1. When I’m retired (whenever that will be), I hope to devote some time learning to cook and bake, since my culinary skills leave a lot to be desired right now. 🙂 Yes, it is sad. We had a baby that was found in a dumpster this past weekend. They held a vigil for it last night. Reading the possible reasons for this brand-new baby’s death including runaway teens and young women who were part of a trafficking ring. They do not know the details at this time, but there are so many sad things these days that I am constantly left shaking my head.

        1. Sounds like a segue from walking to cooking – it’s easy to morph your blog focus 😉 like I often do.
          Oh, my, that’s terrible. I’m glad they held a vigil for the baby. While hard to read, it’s important people are aware so we can watch out for it and stop it. I’m with you, my head has been shaking more this past year than ever!

          1. My head is constantly shaking, between the stupidity of the “Potato Head” after all these years, to the Disney movies that are no longer suitable for kids under 7 years of age. The other day it was “body wash” … if people buy body wash and the label says “body wash” but they use it on their hair or to wash their hands, they are made to feel like something is wrong with them because they don’t use it as a “body wash” – sorry, that is dumb in my opinion. What does it matter what you do with it? I don’t think I’d ever be posting anything that would tout my cooking or baking though – I keep it too simple. 🙂 Instead, I will keep it restricted to walking/nature and stray sometimes for the holidays. I did a blog post at the end of the year about what I accomplished in 2020; unlike others who did DIY jobs, learned hobbies, etc. … really, my life was not that different than usual as I already worked from home as you know. Just more precautions for mingling with others. I did buy a crockpot and a slew of cookbooks to cook with, which can wait until I am retired now since I found some easier crockpot recipes on a Facebook crockpot site and just went with them. I have lots of hobbies to try when I have more time plus learn more about the camera.

          2. Ah, yes, I’m shaking my head at those things too! And my life wasn’t that different either. That’s awesome you bought a crockpot to experiment with. Soon we’ll be back to summer weather and enjoying the outside. I look forward to that and the adventures you find to share with us.

          3. I thought we grew smarter about some things during the pandemic, had become a little “deeper” and it left a mark on us that we had wizened up, but I guess not. I am looking forward to Summer and thought we were headed there last year with the balmy temps, but tonight we will have an inch of snow and freezing rain. So much for Spring which will arrive on Saturday!

          4. I think some people may have gotten smarter, and others have let COVID brain take over.
            We’re snow covered again, but supposedly it’ll warm up and melt this week. Spring will arrive soon if we’re lucky!

          5. That is sadly true – you would think everyone would have learned something … not here as our stats are creeping up again and that was once they gave more leeway to restaurant dining and movie theatres. I hope your snow melts and when Spring arrives you are snow free!

          6. Ah … Spring and fresh air and the freedom to walk in the park and enjoy the scenery, that’s what I’m looking forward to. Our walk this morning in the 28 degrees was nice, but not as nice as it’ll be when we don’t have to bundle up in so many layers of clothes! I hope the weather turns nice for your area this week!

          7. We had a totally rainy day today and very windy – not a nice day at all, but thankful it wasn’t freezing rain or snow. But no walk for me today … the weekend is looking good for sun and warmth. I think February was just so cold and snowy that it turned me off Winter for the rest of the season!

          8. Spring weather is quite the challenge. Soon we’ll be complaining about the heat!?

          9. Here in Michigan our weather can change in a matter of hours … the old adage is “if you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes.”

  9. This is awful, of course. But thanks for writing about it. I first became aware of the worldwide phenomenon of human trafficking when I read Ashley Judd’s memoir All That Is Bitter And Sweet. Judd’s humanitarian work as she described in her book was my first introduction to this horror.

    1. Hi Ally – thank you for sharing your thoughts. I haven’t read that memoir, do you recommend it? I agree this is a horror that I wish didn’t happen anymore. I fear it will get worse now more than ever.

      1. It was an interesting memoir at the time, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. It was just the first time I became aware of human trafficking in a more personal way.

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