Death Brings Life

My day began at 3:30AM in the small town of Newton, Kansas. Now in Atlanta on my way to witness/assist with my 42nd birth. We had a birth yesterday and last Saturday as well. Them babies sure are keeping us busy! ;)

God is teaching me something lately and I wanted to share. A dear friend of mine worded it so beautifully that I will quote her here, "'Death produces life.' Sometimes we think it is so hard to die to ourselves, but really, life is much harder when we live for ourselves." -Jessica Cole

I have thought several times in the last month about how it would be so much easier to go back home and live an "easy" life, to do something that I don't have to work so hard for. But God has been gently reminding me that I must do what is right, not what is easy. When I first said yes to the call of midwifery, I was determined to meet this incredible global need no matter what the cost. When things get hard and one is pushed out of their comfort zone, it is so natural to lose sight of the goal. My present "suffering" is nothing, NOTHING compared to the women around the world who are dying in childbirth, who labor for 5, 6, even 10 DAYS with a dead baby stuck inside them, who bleed to death because they have no meds, who are malnourished, who need to know the importance of feeding their babies within the first hour so they actually have a CHANCE to survive till the age of 5 or even their first birthday, who are beautiful women created by God Himself and are more than worthy of respect, dignity and honor that is so often bereaved them. When I think of the horror that happens every day, every hour, it shakes me to my core. A woman dies in childbirth every 3 seconds.

It's all about perspective. I must run this race, keep my eyes on the goal and the prize, Jesus Christ Himself. I have not been blessed to live a good life and be happy; I have been blessed to be a blessing. And it is, indeed, ALWAYS worth it!