It's Just Ludacris

On Friday I found myself picking up the phone to say, "I never thought I'd recommend a song by Ludacris, but you've got to hear this..." I had just heard Runaway Love by Ludacris and Mary J. Blige, and it was moving. Not often do songs take me that deep, that far, so quickly. But I was moved by the stories of these three little girls.

Here are the lyrics from one of the verses...

Now little lisa is only 9 years old
Shes tryin to figure out why the world is so cold
Why shes all all alone and they never met her family
Mamas always gone and she never met her daddy
Part of her is missin and nobody will listenin
Mama is on drugs gettin high up in the kitchen
Bringin home men at different hours of the night
Startin with laughs--usually endin in a fight
Sneak into her room while her mamas knocked out
Tryin to have his way and little lisa says 'ouch'
She tries to resist but then all he does is beat her
Tries to tell her mom but her mama don't believe her
Lisa is stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothin else to do but some get some clothes and pack
She says shes bout to run away and never come back.

I'm so glad that we are building a Community Center in downtown South Bend, and that we are not only focused on meeting physical needs...but helping people get out of the cycles of poverty and hopelessness that plague them. No one in our community should be forced to think that hell is a place called home.

I don't know when, but on the right weekend, for the right topic, we'll do this song at Granger to help all of us feel their pain just a little bit more.