We're Walking for Life

If you are a parent, think back to the day that you chose to announce your coming little one to your closest friends and family. Probably, for most of you, your annoucement was greeted like all of our pregnancies have been greeted--hugs, smiles, a kiss from an eager grandfather to be, and promises of support from helpful family and friends. As the long days of pregnancy progressed, and sickness or unforeseen complications arose, most of us received continual support and encouragement from family, our church, and friends around us.

However, while we usually fail to think about it in our secure and loving environment, there are those every day who are meeting an annoucement of a coming little one as a worst case scenario. There are no kisses, hugs, smiles and promises of support. There is anger, denial, promises of no support, and often there is violence. Often, in a time of life where human beings would naturally offer shelter and security, a woman is abandoned and left to face "the problem" alone.

We tend to point fingers and give righteous pronoucements while never remembering or refusing to acknowledge why we are not in her condition ourselves. Most of us were born into families with married parents. Most of us had the warmth and shelter of a happy home where meals were often eaten together and holidays are memories of love and contentment. Many of us went to church from our earliest days and had pastors and loving parents to guide us through the troubling days of adolescence. Most of us had someone to talk to, and a clean place to sleep. None of us had perfect homes, but most of us had homes where we were loved.

We tend to forget that the only reason that we are not the woman pushed into the street is
because we were born into a environment that kept us from this. We forget that we did nothing different than she did to avoid this awful place in life. Rather, we forget that God has been good to us. That's all there is to it...we forget that we aren't the pregnant teenager, or the single mother, or the abandoned wife, because God has been good. I can easily picture myself in each one of these situations, outside of God's mercy to me.

Our family is walking in the Walk for Life this Saturday out of gratefulness to God and out of a fear of God. Gratefulness because God has been better to us than we ever deserve. Fear because God does not give expecting nothing in return.

We need sponsors for our Walk so if you are not in a position to join us on this walk, but want to express your gratitude to God, please contact us. Someday I am sure that I will stand before God with these mothers close beside me. I have a lot to answer for, don't you?

The Half Way Mark

One of the interesting things about time is that it usually seems to speed up when we're having fun and slow way down when we're not. That's why we're celebrating the half way point of my pregnancy for baby number eleven! Nine months almost always seems like a very long time--especially when those first few months go by very slowly. Thankfully, although this pregnancy has had more than its share of difficult days, we are learning that God's perfect way is for us to glory in our difficulties. The Apostle Paul said that "most gladly" will I glory in my infirmities. Instead of asking God to take away difficulties, he learned that it was more beneficial to him to experience God's power working through the difficulties.

I'm still working on the "most gladly" part, but I will say that I have already learned a lot through the difficulties that I have experienced. Recently, my doctor asked me to "tell him something good" when he entered the room. I replied that I had recently saw pictures of a maternity hospital in the Sudan, and I was glad that I was here and not there! Yes, we all have innumberable things to be thankful for, and the more we look around, the more things we usually find to be grateful for.

I'm grateful for the sickness I've gone through because I learned a little more how to relate to others that experience extended sickness. I'm grateful for those days in bed because it gave me time to think about all the ways God had blessed me (after all, I was resting in an air conditioned room). I'm thankful for the days of isolation from others as I couldn't get out because it gave me perspective on the loneliness and pain that others have that never get out. I'm thankful for the difficulties I experienced because although it's not in the Bible, I believe that all good things come to those who put some effort into it. If that's true, I think we're getting ready to have something really special.