Pleading, Persistence (and Prayer)

From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit."

Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy."

Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel."

Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me."

He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."

She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."

Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.

{Matthew 15:21-28, The Message}

The Motherhood Manifesto

[via grrrl meets world]

Forever Vulnerable

"Do you think I should have a baby?" "It will change your life," I say, carefully, keeping my tone neutral. "I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on the weekend, no more spontaneous vacations..."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my friend, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in child birth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will be forever vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never read a newspaper again without asking "What if that had been MY Child?" That every plane crash, every fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die....

However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive friend, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years -- not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs....

I wish my friend could sense the bond she'll feel with women throughout history who have tried desperately to stop war and prejudice and drunk driving. I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues, but become temporarily insane when I discuss the threat of nuclear war to my children's future.
I want to describe to my friend the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real, it actually hurts.

My friend's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I say finally.

[via Mission: Kim Possible!]

(Hours of) Labours of Love

But what is worse? The thought that "even if we don't have another baby, I have just given birth to another daughter, which means that 20+ years from now, I'm going to feel so bad for my two daughters who will have to push their own babies out, and I really don't want them to have to go through that pain." And I had visions of myself reading the Psalms and listening to Mozart for Mothers-To-Be (or maybe I'd get them to make a Grandmothers-To-Be cd) every night for the next 20 years, all because I was worried about the hours of labour my daughters may have to go through!

And now, I miss the labour and my time in the hospital.

[via Vandermeander, emphasis mine]

Abortion, Murder and Pacifism

[via Hopeful Daniel]

...and just to add an illustration...

The Denialists' Deck of Cards: An Illustrated Taxonomy of Rhetoric Used to Frustrate Consumer Protection Efforts

[via denialism blog]

Faith of our Mothers

[via Think Christian]

Mother's Day for Peace

[via Resonate Media Radar]

A Fragile Bond

Mama tried

[via GetReligion]

The Poor You Shall Have With You Always

Interviews: Ron Hall and Denver Moore, Jimmy Dorrell, Shaine Claiborne, and apparently Superman.

Also featuring Jesus Was A Homeless Bum, Solving America's Quaker Joke Shortage ..., The Next Big Evangelical Scandal, Men's Retreat Shocker!, Preacher's Kids Anonymous, Off-Message Church Marketing, and more. The Last Word: Indiscriminate Compassion.