Welcome to Love Like Ell(a)

The Road Not Taken

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference." – R. Frost

 

This poem came to mind upon our Daughter Ella's passing. She will be 33 forever.

 

We met Ella 10 years ago; she was a damaged victim with a black eye. Our church knew we had extra room and asked if we could house her for a few weeks till she could get back on her feet. We said sure, and "that has made all the difference."

 

A few months later, we did an adult adoption and accepted Ella into our family. Ella was an exceptional young lady with an incredible intellect whose life had been twisted from a lifetime of abuse and torture. Before we move on, think of the most horrific abuse someone could endure as a child, then step it up, and you will be closer to what El took. With that out of the way, Ella was an amazingly caring person. As we were contacting people that she had known, we became amazed at the stories of how she impacted their lives. We talked with 3 people who claimed she kept them from suicide.

 

"And that has made all the difference" is true since Ella claimed that if we had not adopted her, she was close to suicide. So with Ella's life being extended for 10 years, at least 3 lives have been saved and prospered. I am sure there are more.

 

I think of so many stories. When she first came to stay with us, she used to wake up screaming, asking mommy not to leave since "he will hurt me." Because of her, we got to know many in the Suwanee PD and Fire Department. If it wasn't for her and Miracle, I might not have had anyone close by to call 911 when I had my cardiac arrest. So technically, you can add another life Ella saved!!

 

I love Robert Frost, and he wrote the poem "Out, Out," which he never read aloud because of the coldness. It was a true story about a young man who had injured himself with a bandsaw. The last few lines were a grim look at how we live:
 

"The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs."

 

The poem's title was from Macbeth when he heard of his wife's death:

 

"Out out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

 

Both talk about life and how insignificant it is in the grand scheme of things. Really if you think about it, only the death of Jesus has one life made such a worldwide impact. Over 2000 years after his death, his statement "but my words will not pass away" reigns true (Matt 24:35). No matter how you view Jesus as a savior, a prophet, or a myth, his words and impact are undeniable. While I am not trying to compare Ella with Jesus, her life is more like a pebble in a quiet lake. The ripples go much further than the point it dropped into the water. (Ok, maybe not a pebble, but rather a large rock:) These ripples will continue well after that pebble has sunk away; like Ella, I am sure her waves will continue well into the future.

 

Also, we need to mourn her death, but at the same time, we need to gather our lives together and move forward. She would not want us to do anything less.

 

What now? She has left this earth and is finally able to hug Jesus in his T-Shirt and torn blue jeans!! What are we to do? Can we go back to scales over our eyes and ignore the child sex trafficking she brought to all our attention? Can we sit and do nothing while millions of our young continue to be abused by often rich, godly, and powerful people? Do we say, "there is nothing I can do; someone else will take care of it?"

 

I would say NO. You can take the easy way and give to some organization (I will link a few at the end). Or you can take the road less traveled and roll up your sleeves. I can guarantee you will have long and ugly conversations with God, and life will not be easy. You WILL be attacked, and the "enemy" will do everything they can to end your progress. All I can say is this is imperative.

 

Our lives would be so different if we took that path more traveled. There are some points in our life's trajectory that you can look at where you are today and realize that one decision made all the difference. Regrets? None whatsoever!

 

Here are some organizations we have experience with that are great sources of information and are in deep.

 

https://discoveringmercy.org/ - an organization that helps victims recover from complex trauma, as Ella had.

 

https://www.ourrescue.org/ - Tim Ballard's group for saving Child Sex Trafficking victims worldwide.