A twenty dollar tip

There is almost always an awkward space created in the tasting room between myself and the inquisitor standing across the bar. As the colorful words I’ve just spouted off to them about the current Pinot that’s swirling around in their mouths, someone in the party breaks the ‘normal’ tasting room etiquette and inquires about my life outside of the wonderful world of wine. It goes something like this:

Me: “This particular pinot highlights our commitment to sustainable agriculture and biodynamic farming, upholding to the standard that not only respects the earth and her produce, but the very wine itself by presenting it to you in its purest form…”

Customer: “Fascinating… now, do you work here year round?”

Me: “Nope, just during the beautiful summer months.”

Customer: “And what do you do when you’re not working here?”

Me: “I will be working with a small non-profit human rights organization.”

Customer: “Oh, how interesting, what exactly do you do?”

Me: “Well, we work to end child sex slavery and exploitation by providing aftercare to girls that have been rescued from working as sex slave and by funding prevention projects in the USA and South East Asia.”

ENTER AWKWARD MOMENT, FOLLOWED BY A LONG THICK SILENCE…

Customer: “Oh… well, good for you.”

There is always a mix of emotions that run through my mind when asked these questions, but I am always glad they do. Most of the people I spend my day talking to are truly in vacation mode, sipping away some of the most delicious wine in the valley, catching up with friends and enjoying the general splendor. Reality is not a welcome visitor, and even less welcome is the reality of thousands of children around the world. However, today I encountered a group of women who broke the mold. At first glance I didn’t take them for people who would “hear the cry,” but they couldn’t have surprised me more. I merely spoke the words “child sex trafficking” and they were ears wide open. I was able to tell them that Love 146 is an organization that believes in the restoration of the innocent children who are most intensely affected by this heinous crime. That thousands of people are subjected to forced sex acts in this country every single day. That there are people with a lot of power who are not willing to give up their precious commodity: the high price of the virginity of a young girl. But most importantly I was able to communicate the beautiful message of hope I want to scream from the rooftops on a daily basis. The message that we do not have to tolerate slavery in this country, or anywhere else in the world. That there are solutions, we can stop it and everyone has a part to play. As the ladies were leaving one of them asked me how old the girls are that live in our home. I answered her by saying, “younger and younger everyday.” She then told me about her 12 year old daughter and how much she loved her, but how also she was convicted that girls, her own daughter’s age, were forced into the most vile sexual acts, everyday. As she was leaving, I simply asked her not to forget about those girls and think about how she could get involved.

As I started to clean up the tasting I saw that this woman had left me a $20 tip, she had decided to get involved…

I challenge you to do the same, how can you be involved? Will you hear the cry of the innocent?

Pray. Listen. Act. Be blessed.