This IS Life...

If you know me well enough, you know that I don't really care about many things politically. One political/social issue I DO, however, very much care about it fetal life. This post comes with a story.


Today, my language helper and I were, well, learning Hindi. She got a phone call, and after she finished the call she explained to me what was going on. She said that her cousin had missed her period for 3 months in a row. She had taken several pregnancy tests, all showing negative. She went to the doctor in her village and the doctor said it was probably just gas. (...I don't understand that part, either...) She wanted a second opinion, so she came to our city to go to a doctor here. He gave her a pregnancy test, and she is, in fact, 3 months pregnant. However, the doctor told her that because she has high blood pressure and 1 vein in particular with a high BP, the pregnancy might be risky. ...might be... The doctor advised "termination." That's what it's called here. Termination. Since she already has a son and a daughter, she decided "termination" would be best, and so today she had surgery to "terminate."


TERMINATE=ABORTION.


TERMINATE=MURDER.


Even my language helper, this woman's cousin, believes that it is murder, but that it is best for everyone because of the high blood pressure.


I wanted to say, "Call her and tell her to stop! Call her and tell her to have the baby and we will adopt him or her!" But I couldn't. It's not really that she doesn't want the baby. She doesn't seem to care either way. She just has high blood pressure. I can't do anything about that... I told my language helper I would pray for her cousin, and she said thank you. What else can I do? I prayed, and will continue to pray, that this woman mourns the loss of her baby, a human being. I pray that she fully understands what she has done. I pray that she seeks God's forgiveness over this heinous sin. I pray she comes to know the true God, and that she is forgiven.

I pray for women all over the world, especially here in my new country, and there in my old country, two countries where abortion is SO widespread. I pray that women (and men) would know that life starts at conception. That there are heartbeats, fingers, blinking, thumb-sucking, and breath even in the womb. This is not a "thing" to terminate. This IS life.

The Owl

You and I know the owl as a wise, knowledgeable creature that other creatures go to when seeking advise or knowledge on a subject. When someone compares you to an owl, it is usually a compliment.


Here, however, owls are thought to be the dumbest and least intelligent of all animals, because owls do not know to sleep at night and be awake during the day like all other animals. If someone compares you to an owl here, it is a huge insult. When buying fruit in the market, if the fruit vendor tells you an outrageous price, the response is a saying that basically means, "do you think I look as stupid as an owl?!?"


My mom sent Corinth and I some craft supplies when we first arrived in South Asia. In the package was a felt owl for Corinth and I to decorate. After we decorated it, we hung it up in our living room, where everyone could see it. Several local people who saw it said, "You know that the owl is a very stupid animal, yes?" We politely replied that yes, we knew, but that in our country the owl is thought to be very wise.


I say all of this because this is one thing that Kyle and I think about often. We are just like the owl. In America, we know how to do things well, efficiently, effectively, and with purpose. Here, however, we so often feel stupid because what we think is right is so far from being right, and we often do things that others think of as unintelligent. It's a reminder that, while we or our abilities have not changed, the way people perceive us, and the way we function in society, has changed. And that's okay.


I left the owl up for a long time, because it was okay with me if people thought the owl on my wall was stupid/unintelligent. I knew better. That is a smart, capable owl who is just in a new place! :-)