Radical Pro-Lifer

It's time.  Time for me to stop fearing this post and just go with my gut.  I have rewritten, deleted, edited, etc. this post way too many times.  So, I deleted one more time and am starting from scratch....from my heart....from my passion....from my innermost spirit.


You see, I have friends and family that lean towards the extreme right wing agenda....and I have friends and family that lean towards the extreme left wing agenda.  And, so even though what I write really isn't intended to state a political agenda, I do fear what others may think and I fear alienating or offending some.


But, this is also something that has been deeply seeded into my heart. So much so, that I think about it (even obsess...) a lot......ALOT.  I was raised to know that as a Christian, I knew that life begins at conception and that abortion is a sin. I even stood with my grandma and mom and held signs at local government agencies to help raise awareness in the fight against abortion being legalized.  I still believe life begins at conception; and I still believe abortion is wrong.  I also believe life and the importance of protecting it doesn't stop in the birth canal.


?????WHAT?????  Wait...


I have a friend....she adopted a young girl out of the foster care system.  This poor toddler experienced more trauma than most of our entire families will experience in a lifetime....in the first few years of her life.  She is a beautiful, creative, intelligent young lady with an extreme tendency towards manipulative and destructive behaviors....due to trauma that destroyed the ability for her to connect with others in a healthy way.....and who knows if there was trauma in the womb from alcohol or drugs that the birth mother or those around her may have used.


Another friends works for the department of human services......severely underpaid, overworked, and given little leeway to fight for the children assigned to her....given specific guidelines as to what she can say and do....how much she can "spend" to get her caseloads taken care of....and yet she tells me how she often can't sleep at night because she knows that some of these kids should not be allowed to ever return home to their birth parents....but "we believe in 2nd...and 3rd....and 4th....chances"


In the state of Iowa, we have expanded Medicaid coverage to hundreds of adults.  Yet there is still a waiting list hundreds of kids long waiting for waivers to receive funding for necessary care.


A recent news story told of how the standard recommendation for mental health beds is 50 for every 100,000 of population.  Iowa has 5.....and yet it becomes a massive struggle against impossibility to approve funding to send a child or adult with Medicaid funding out of state for the treatment they need.


I read inspiring stories of people who are working hard in places like Uganda and Haiti who are working hard....not just to "rescue" children by placing them in adoptive homes....but to help the families develop ways to support themselves and their children, while also educating them in how to prevent pregnancy. 


So, how do these stories come together in a short blog.....


I think we have to look beyond the traditional "pro-life" views....just like we have started to move beyond the simple answer of "rescuing" children from foreign countries through adoption.  While both of those views are good and admirable....there is more.  Protecting children while educating, working to heal families and children through comprehensive, individualized treatment plans for the entire family with freedom to "make exceptions to policy" given to social workers familiar with the situation, realizing that consistent, thorough, and regular follow-through will end up costing less in the long run, whereas constant changes and upheaval end up destroying any previously gained ground, realizing that by investing in the parents and financially into those working with them we stop the constant run-around, confusion, and miscommunication so common, and finally.....if we took as much care and compassion in fighting for pro-life beyond the birth canal....imagine the changes that potentially could happen in our entire society...worldwide.

A New Toy

Every good blog needs some pictures, right?

Well, tonight, I begin....with one.

My boss once told me she could keep me happy at work by giving me a new "toy" to figure out, experiment with, and successfully use every few years.  Well, tonight, my new "toy" was at home.

A few weeks ago, I found it...my dream machine on sale at an incredibly low, low price.  Welcome FoodSaver to my official kitchen membership.

Tonight was my first night to use.  I started by reading the manual (I've learned that's a great idea after messing up many things by not reading them in the past!)  Then I started my project for the night, cleaning out the freezer as much as possible to store as many of the 500 undecorated "Kari's Kookies" until they need decorating for Palm Sunday at church.  I did the typically food saver stuff....the chicken breasts, my individual homemade breakfast burritos, etc.  Then I looked (wished I would have taken a picture) and frowned....what was I going to do with the super large roasting pan full of the slightly overripe bananas that they sell for super cheap at the supermarket before they go bad. Perfect bananas for making banana bread, muffins, smoothies, etc.  Bring on the "new toy" experiment for the night.  I set the bananas out on the table to begin to thaw slightly.  When they were "just soft, yet slightly frozen", I peeled the bananas and packaged them 4 to a bag, vaccuum packed them and sealed them.  It worked brilliantly!!  Even after they were sealed, I could smash the bananas into a smooth, flat bag and stack them in a very small place in the freezer.  Perfectly packed for defrosting and mixing into batters of bread, and taking up a lot less space in the freezer!

Back to the cookies I was making room for.  That was actually the reason I bought the FoodSaver. I want to experiment with packing "Kari's Kookies" and keeping them in tact and fresh for possible shipping to friends and others who might request them.  I didn't get to that experiment tonight.....but am hopeful. After all, it's a new toy and I'm loving figuring out everything I can use it for!  Wish me luck!

Quinncidence of Blessings

I have two secrets to share tonight....
1.  I am addicted to couponing....bargains....etc...(ok..so not much of a secret to most of you)
2.  In mid-December I was sent an anonymous cash gift....with a note to "Please use your gifts to multiply this blessing"

I wasn't sure what that meant and so I prayed about it.  And I share this to not build myself up...but instead to hopefully encourage some of you (and to remind myself) of how, if you allow God to take your situation and mix it with your passion, He will do great things.

And, so, as I prayed about what God would have me do, he reminded me that March 12 is Quinncidence Day...where a local family celebrates their daughter Quinn's life, although it was painfully short, by encouraging others to do random acts of kindness.  I had a mission....use every bit of bargain shopping, rebates, coupons, etc. to obtain all kinds of items for Quinncidence Day.  I would post a picture, but some of the gifts I want to be completely anonymous....maybe in a few weeks I will.

And I sit here amidst notecards, candy, poptarts, stickers, yarn, gift cards, cereal,etc....I am so excited for how this unknown person is allowing God to make so many others' day!  I could have never done this on my own budget; I also could have spent the money given quickly and gotten many fun things....but this person knew that God would take my passion and inspire it for good and lots of it! Thank you my friend and may each Quinncidence that results glorify our LORD's Name!!