Breakfast was finished, everyone was gone and Dan and I were cleaning up when this very pretty young girl walked in and looking around the room asked if she could have something to drink. There being still coffee on the go, we invited her to have some as well as water if she so desired, which she did.

This being the first time we’ve ever seen her, as she was leaving, Dan introduced us to her. He then came to me and mentioned that there were tears in her eyes as she was leaving. I went out and found her sitting on the curb, and sure enough she was crying, so I invited her to come in and sit for a spell. At this, she started crying and as she came in, I directed her to Lorraine, our prayer warrior, who took her into her office and spent some time with her.

A little later she left, after she had been helped a little, but then later in the day I saw her with a group of other youth milling about on the street, and I wonder if somehow we had been scammed again. Her story? Very typical. Ran away from home in Winnipeg with her boyfriend who promptly got her pregnant and then of course they split up. For whatever reason, he has the little boy and she has been left in Red Deer destitute. So common, and yet so sadly typical.

Here is where I begin to sound like a broken record.

Why??? Why is this young girl on the street? Why did she leave the security of a well to do home where she had everything she wanted, but not what she really needed? Why did a supposedly loving father offer to send her some money rather than come here to get her? Out of every one hundred or so kids we meet, why is there only one parent who comes into the kitchen desperate to find any information about their child? Why in heavens name have we witnessed parents who have only followed their children to get something back that the child stole from the house; they throw up their hands about the child, but demand to know what they did with the stolen article.

Is a half a million dollar house, a twenty-six foot holiday trailer, and a couple of four wheelers really that important in your life that you both have to work to pay off the loans used to purchase them? In comparison, how much time was spent nurturing you child compared to the extra time spent working for and looking after your toys? Are these things really that important that you no longer have time to pick up on the nuances of a lonely or a hurting child? When you drive your child to school in your new $50,000 SUV, do you actually listen to her, or are your thoughts already on the day ahead? Are you more concerned with how a few bike lanes affect your driving freedom, rather than the safety of your children?

I know that not every successful family is that way, but with the preponderous amount of evidence on the street, there are more than ever there should be.

What if, instead of finding something to counter a busy day such as a night out with friends or a night out with the boys, we spent time with our child just listening about their day and help them sort out what they have learned? If we can’t do even that just because we feel that we “deserve” some rest, then we have to ask; why have children in the first place?

Please, in the name of God consider this, because it hurts just too much to see your beautiful daughters turn themselves over to the vultures on the street just to have some companionship.

That’s how I see it.

— Chris