This morning I've been reading news stories about the missing girls in Cleveland who were miraculously discovered this week.

One of the girls broke free and began screaming at the front door of the house in which they were being held captive as a man walked by.

He came to her rescue and now their lives have been changed forever.

As the mom of a teenager a daughter, news stories like this terrify me.

To think someone could hold girls in captivity for 10 years is simply more than my mind can absorb.

But as I read some of the comments from neighborhood citizens,

I found myself becoming a little angry at mankind in general.

How can we live so "blind" to the things around us?

One story said that a small girl could often be seen standing and staring out the attic window.

Another said screaming could be heard from within the house at times and that the windows were all covered in some sort of plastic.

Another said that several years ago a woman was seen crawling naked on her hands and knees in the back yard.

The police were called on a couple of occasions.

They responded to the calls,

knocked on the door, and then left when no one answered.

I guess that was enough for the people who had made the call.

Ever since I heard about this story in Cleveland, I have been thinking of all the other families around the world who are still holding pictures of their missing children.

I watched one interview of a Houston couple whose daughter has been missing for three years.

Crying, they held up her photograph, begging anyone to come forward who had any information about their daughter.

The $20,000 reward doesn't hold a candle to the worth of holding their daughter in their arms again.

Over 7,000 missing persons' reports are filed every year in Houston alone!

Many are found.

Many are not.

So, how should the Cleveland story change us???

It should cause us all to open our eyes.

It should make us all more aware of our surroundings.

It should compel us all to report unusual activity to the police.

Pray for every parent who falls asleep tonight not knowing where their child is sleeping......or if they are even alive.

I remember when Adrienne died -

The devastation of knowing she was gone from our home forever.

The thought of her not being in her crib ever again.

But I also remember saying to my mom one night not longer after her funeral,

"At least I know where she is."

Twenty-one years ago I was keenly aware that there are parents who wake up every morning not knowing where their children are waking up.

That broke my heart then and it breaks my heart now.

Today as the story in Cleveland continues to unfold,

let's remember all the families who are watching and hoping for the same kind of miracle for their child.

God will certainly avenge all the wrong of this world in His time.

He will redeem all the lost years.

Until then, we have got to do our part as citizens and Christians in an extremely broken world.

Praying more specifically today for families with missing children.

Asking God for more miracles like the one in Cleveland.