Peace and Love First.

Usually, I like Facebook. It's fun to look at pictures, and post things, and announce things, and especially, I like to be a part of homeschool groups that give me great ideas and encouragement.

But lately, I have really seen Facebook being used as a platform to withhold grace and serve out judgement. Like, when you don't have the guts to really speak directly to people about certain things you are passionate about, but now you can say what you want to A LOT of people. It's just a really passive aggressive maneuver. I have probably done it countless times without meaning to, so I ask for forgiveness if I have come off that way. Although, I've come into a place in my life where I've been speaking up a lot more for what I believe in.   

Anyway, last night I read a post on Facebook. It was from a Midwife group. This group was posting about a woman who put her trust in God and allowed her body to deliver her baby in its own way and time. She was strong and courageous and her baby was born healthy. 

First of all, let me say that this is not a personal issue of mine at all. I was not offended by this post on a personal level. But I kind of thought about some of my friends. Like my friend who waited and waited, and she did go in on her own, but she didn't progress, her baby was in distress, and she ended up having a c-section. My friends who were really worried about having a VBAC, and opted to continue down the c-section path with their subsequent children. Friends (like myself) who really do understand and are mindful about the risks of a baby going too long past the due date and choose induction. Friends who want to deliver in hospitals, just in case. The post made me think about the implication there that perhaps these friends of mine aren't deemed as strong enough, or Christian enough, because they made different, less natural choices. 

Sure, maybe some of us don't put enough trust in God and we try to control everything. Maybe some of us are just scared. And then again, maybe God brings wisdom into some of our hearts that we need to take a different path than our more natural fellow mommies. Either way, friends, let's be mindful of how we are making each other feel. I get it if you are all about the natural childbirth approach, and I applaud you, but I will stop applauding you if go so far as to condemn or criticize other women for not believing in things the way you do. I care much more about how we treat each other than how natural a baby comes out of a woman's body. I care much more about how we can encourage brand new moms in surviving those early mothering years than whether or not she used her placenta to grow her garden. I'm just saying. 

This Midwife group may not have necessarily been trying to implicate that women who do childbirth unnaturally are less than, but here is what I will say: all healthy women LOVE their children the minute the test turns positive. They want was is best for their children, but also for their own bodies to continue to be strong and healthy. The decisions will not always look the same. But our love is the same. Let's help each other, encourage each other. Let's not condemn, and let's certainly not play the GOD card when we don't agree with other people's choices. 

Peace out.