Abortion Holocaust?

I just read something on facebook today that broke my heart.  Apparently, there is a war of words between daddy Duggar (yes...the one with 19 kids) and pro-choice groups.
Allegedly, Mr. Duggar referred to the high numbers of abortions as an abortion holocaust.

Unless we've been sheltered from history, we all know that "Holocaust" typically refers to the Jewish Holocaust during WWII.  During this incredibly sad period of time, under the abominable leadership of Hitler, many Jews were forced to live in hiding until they were found and taken to work camps and murdered.  This was a violent ripping apart of family units.  The Nazis were not respecters of gender or age.  Young and old, male and female, were targeted.  I cry when I allow myself to think of the fear they endured.

Hearing abortion linked with the word Holocaust could make sense as semantics go.  The dictionary defines a holocaust as, "a mass slaughter of people".  And babies are people.  So, it would logically follow that the mass slaughter of babies is, in fact, an Abortion Holocaust.

However,

I feel like a little bit of a broken record here...any maybe everyone is tired of my views.  But here they are anyway...;)

 I am a supporter of LIFE.  My heart hurts over the brokenness of abortion.  And I will tell everyone that listens that I support LIFE.  I have put myself in several situations that make it obvious that I support LIFE.  However, if I had a platform (like the Duggars do) I would NEVER throw out language like "abortion holocaust" Abortion is born out of sin and darkness.  It is believing the lie that ending a pregnancy is an easy fix without lingering emotional and physical pain.  But there are better ways to support LIFE than to throw out judgements.  That's why people dislike christians.  That's why the "world" doesn't want to talk to us when they face unplanned pregnancies like these.  Would you share your brokenness with someone calling you a murderer?  Do we want to be part of helping someone make a healthy choice for their body, heart, and soul?  Then, we can't stand ABOVE them and think we'll have an impact.  I'm so insanely tired of the self-righteous approach to this issue.

When my kids are doing something I don't agree with, how do I handle it?  Do I stand in another part of the house and scream, "YOU ARE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE!!!"  NO!  That would not be part of my parenting package.  Instead, I go to where my children are.  I walk to them.  I don't yell at them to come to me.  I kneel down in front of them so my eyes are a little lower than theirs.  Isn't that the posture of someone in trouble?  Aren't their eyes cast downward?  I want them to see me.  I want them to know that my truth comes with heavy doses of love and expectation.

How can we impact the world unless we go to them.  How can we show Jesus unless we lower ourselves.  We are all broken and sinful people.  Some of us have had the complete fortune of knowing God's grace.  That's the only difference between us.  We certainly didn't get there on our own.  So, why in the world would we try to SHAME them with negative language?  Abortion is a choice made by broken people in awful situations.  It is not okay.  It is not an answer.  But, for the love of all that is Holy, can we agree that anything other than Love is a waste of time.  The lost and lonely can argue and find fault with everything else.  But when we approach them with love, well... I'm gonna throw it back to Jesus on this one.

1 Corinthians 13:13
"Three things will last forever-- faith, hope, and love-- and the greatest of these is LOVE!

Is anybody with me???

So you want to be a parent...

My kids are home from school today.  It is brilliant planning by the school system.  Schedule an in-service day on the day after trick-or-treating.  I know, I know...the teachers are saying, "It is STILL a work day for us."  And I agree.  But, see...I've been a teacher.  I've been through in-service days.  So, I know that while you must sit through meetings and try desperately to stay awake. (or grade papers on the sly)  You also get to sit in the quiet, use your brain for the greater good, eat lunch out with your friends, and GET PAID!  LOL  I love you, teacher friends!!!

Over here in crazy land, it is a completely different scene. 

Will the police come if the domestic dispute is between five siblings?

The kids are so jacked up that even the 70lb dog is hiding.

I wouldn't trade a minute of my life with anyone.  Yes, I actually ran through a few names to make sure that statement was accurate.  If I gave up the insanity, I'd also give up the joy.

I recently saw some tweets from a young girl about her intense desire to have "BABIES".

I shut down my phone and shook my head.  "People have no idea what parenting is really about."

But then I remembered that NEITHER DID I!

I was that girl fifteen years ago.  I'm sure there were plenty of people shaking their heads at me.  You know what I thought parenting was about before having kids?  I thought it was about dressing them in cute clothes and taking them places.  Yeah...I was an idiot.

It has taken me fourteen years to learn what parenting is about and I know I have years of growing and learning to go.  If I could tell the young version of me anything about what was to come...I would keep my big mouth shut!  :)  'Cause I wouldn't want to freak my young self out!

The idea of holding five fragile lives in my hands is almost too much for me to process even now.  They each have unique personalities and interests.  Some days they make me so proud.  And other days they make me think I've failed.  How could I have had the courage to take that on if I knew what was coming.  The details...oh, the details.  One hates peanut butter, one loves skinny jeans.  One has fears that I'll never fully understand, and one lives to PUSH EVERY BUTTON YOU HAVE.  One loves justice, another lives with his foot dangling across "the line." The meals, the laundry, the messy rooms, the messy life, the noise, the chaos, the toys, the birthdays, the holidays, the cost.

The COST.  What has been the cost of parenting for me?  

I posted a statement on facebook the other day and got some really funny and poignant answers.  I simply wrote:  Parenting is:  and asked people to fill in the blank.  My favorite answer was ...Parenting is: a reason to take up drinking and smoking.  LOL!  I needed that laugh!

But, I got so many reminders of what parenting does for me.  

It refines me.  It takes the selfishness I have and crushes it like an avalanche.  It forces me to think of someone else before myself.  It has pushed me to look at people differently.  The old me would have judged people by the way they dress, or talk.  The parent in me realizes that those differences are a gift. And lets be honest.  It has actually made me a little bit more amazing.  The old me would require complete silence to write a blog post.  I just wrote this one while the dog ran in circles under my desk, two kids had a sword fight and there are two devices playing different songs in the background.  

For those of you that have already raised teenagers, DO NOT...I repeat...DO NOT tell me what's coming at me! ;)  I'd rather stay blissfully in the dark!