Abortion

I am pro-life. But, I am not for a 100% ban on abortion. I think when it comes to a decision on the woman's life or the babies life, the woman (and those she chooses to include) should be able to decide. Now, I know it becomes a gray area as to what is the line to which a pregnancy is hazardous to a woman's life. I am not a doctor, so I can't make that decision completely. But, I think it would be fine to put a rule that two doctors from different practices would have to be consulted. If both agree (or any two agree) that the woman's life was in danger, then an abortion would be allowed. The two doctors wouldn't have to be in the same field. I am not abreast about all of the fields of medicine, but generalists, ob/gyn's, surgeons, etc. should be all on the possible lists of doctors.

What about rape or incest? Well, hopefully the victim would be going to the hospital after the crime to get the rape test, etc. If the victim reports the crime, then there are options before abortion such as the morning after pill. The woman then wouldn't have to carry a baby conceived by force. Why do I not like abortion in these cases? There are women who say that the abortion felt like a second rape. That is was just as much of a violation as the rape itself. I think the best option would be to prevent the pregnancy from actually happening then to put the women into a position to choose.

I believe that life begins at implantation. I believe that that life is special and should be saved if possible. Read the comments on this post about all of the women who consider the children they lost - including early miscarriages, abortions, and stillbirths. Each of these women realize that what they were carrying was a human. As soon as you feel the baby moving, it is obvious that it is a human. Early ultrasound (I had one at about 7 weeks) shows a human - not a bunch of cells.

Now, I know some people think we should have the option to choose. IT is a woman's body, so she should get to choose what happens to it. Well, suicide has often been considered against the law (although normally not enforced). So, what is the difference? If it is illegal (still in some states of the US) to kill yourself, why is it then not illegal to kill something inside of you?

Book Review - Crown of Thorns

I finally finished Crown of Thorns by Sigmund Brouwer. It is the second book in a series that I have read. The book is not clear that it is the second in the series. That is why I have now read books two and three before reading book one. Luckily, the books are fairly independent.

This book is sometimes labeled as Christian fiction. But, the amount of Christianity in the book is very minimal. The main character (Nick Barrett) is a Christian. There are a few times he shares his faith with someone or someone asks him if he is following his faith. But, that is about it. It is a mystery fiction more than anything. It is definitely more a story of a cult and the lasting affects of slavery in Charleston, SC than about Christianity. If you are up for a good mystery with lots of pieces to the puzzle, I recommend reading this book.

Now to see if the library has book one...

Smoking, etc.

First, off I think smoking is a discussing and bad habit. I prefer to be as far away from the smell of smoke as possible. So, now onto the real part of this post...

I have been thinking about the bans on smoking at different places. I am not sure I always agree with them. Public places - yes. But private establishments? I am not so sure. Our town does not allow smoking in restaurants. My dad has commented on these rules before. He thinks it should be the owner's choice. I am starting to agree with him. If the owner chooses to have a smoking establishment, I think he should be allowed to. But, he must make it clear to everyone that it is a smoking establishment. If people want to go there to eat or to work, then fine. I won't, but I do know people who would. What about the workers? First off, no one is making anyone work anywhere. But, if it is the only job available... Maybe the owner could be required to pay the workers extra in the form a savings/insurance plan just for the risks of second hand smoke. Also, for some reason unknown to me, many restaurant workers smoke! I regularly see workers outside (in the back) of a restaurant smoking. I wonder if these people would like to work at a place that allows smoking by the patrons?

I work for a community college. There are rules about how far away from the building you have to be in order to smoke, but they aren't heavily enforced. Why not? Well, it is supposedly the employees as a whole who are to enforce it. I know I am not willing to stand there and talk to someone while they smoke that they shouldn't be smoking there. I just want to hold my brethe, walk by, and get away from the smoke ASAP. Personally, I wish the campuses were a smoke-free zone. At the least, I wish smoking was only allowed in a few smoking zones on campus. It would be a lot clearer to everyone where they would have to go to smoke, etc. I also think all hospitals should be smoke-free at least for the employees. If a patient is a smoker, then maybe there should be a special place for them to smoke if they are on a weaning program (there are people who can't quit cold-turkey...).

What do you think?

Stretching...

God i stretching my husband and I. We have both taken on new rolls in the church this week. He is filling in for the adult class, and I am going to start a kids program on Wednesday nights. We go to a really small church - with about 50 people there for Sunday morning service. There are only about 10 adults and 10 kids that show up for Sunday School. Sunday and Wednesday evening services can be anywhere from 5 to 30 people adults and kids). The wife of the man who was teaching the adult class had heart bypass surgery this week, so he will be out for a while. My husband is the youngest one that attends the class (well, other than the babies), but he is the only male member. Other than myself, there are two female members that attend, but neither of them would be willing or able to do it. So, that left my husband. There is a couple that is going to start attending that are members, but they have their hands full right now as it is with 5 children (almost 7 to 1 month old). Other than them, the attendees are our parents' age or older...

On Wednesday nights, there have been two extra kids attending besides the 5 in the one family and our daughter. These two kids don't get to go to church often, so we (pastor and I) thought it would be good to do some sort of lesson. And, since my daughter doesn't like to sit still for the service as it is, I volunteered. We are going to be using a Veggie Tales program for preschool ages. Hopefully it won't be too boring for the 6 year olds...

Please pray for us as we allow God to stretch us and make us grow in these areas!

Economy and Personal Finances

Now, I don't like the fact that our economy is hurting and the stock market is tumbling, but I see one positive out of this: People may take a closer look at their personal finances!

As individuals (and as a nation), we rely on credit too much. It has become so easy to get a credit card and then max it out. It was too easy to get a "good" mortgage a few years ago. The same goes for store credit, etc. Now, as a nation, we are suffering. So much of the income earned is going towards interest. As the interest keeps stacking up, it is becoming less and less possible to ever pay it off. So, people have less money to really use each and every day. The price of gas isn't what is killing the family income - it is debt!

So, what do you do? First, make it hard to use your credit cards unless you have been faithful in the last 6 months to them off every month. Second, before you buy something, determine how much it will really cost. In some of my classes, I have my students calculate amortization schedules so they can see how much of each payment is going towards principal (the item's actual value) and towards interest. This can be a huge eye opener. What you think cost $1000 may end up costing you $1200 or more after interest (that is with 12.5% interest for 3 years)!

What else can you do? If you currently have debt, pay it off as soon as possible! Paying $20 extra a month on a house can save you thousands of dollars in the long run! Maying one extra payment a year (i.e. paying half of the mortgage every two weeks) will take 10+ years off of the mortgage!

Language...

When did not so nice four letter words become commonly used in our language? It used to be when people would give anyone saying such a word a bad look or giving them a piece of their mind. Now, most people don't think about it one bit. Others (like me) sometimes will give them a little bit of a look, but that is it - nothing more. I definitely don't want to raise my daughter around such words. I want her to grow up to understand that there are a lot better ways to express yourself than to say those words.

No, there are some words that technically aren't bad that are used in the place of bad words. Things like fudge and crap are becoming more and more common as well. Are they are better than the other words? I don't think they really are. Now, these words aren't as likely to be picked up on by a little kid and repeated (at least used in the same way). So, in that way they are better. But, it still comes back to the fact that saying such things are taking the "easy" road. Instead of really explaining how you feel and what is going on, resorting to a single word seems to be easier. But, it doesn't work as well. And, it is offensive.

Now, I do slip up regularly and say things like screw and fudge when I shouldn't, but it is an ongoing process of growth. I believe one day God is going to judge us for each word we say. I want there to be as few idle words there as possible.

What do you feel about such words?