That last post was written carefully. (I adapted it from an email to friends, and even then I was careful.) It is exceptionally important, I think, to speak and write carefully when our hearts are full of less than pleasant things. As, truth be told, mine is when it comes to much of the news I shared. I wanted to be clear that I see the direction we are headed as good, and to make it clear that I trust God is working these things for good.
However, the reality is that I am not particularly happy about the decision. At times, I’ve been everything from mildly disappointed to deeply angry about it. Read on, intrepid explorer →
Jaimie was writing about labor. It strikes me, though, that this sort of thing happens in lots of areas. Whether our words are encouraging or not can make a big difference for others.
Naturally, I set out asking many different woman about their experiences with labor, each time hoping to hear what I wanted to hear – that is, “You know, it does hurt, but in the end it’s not that bad, and you can do it!” Instead, I’ve discovered that woman seem to have some morbid need to describe their pain to me (ranging from “it feels like you’re being ripped apart from the inside” to the loud statement of a hyperbolic grimace) any time I mention that I’d like to give birth without any medication.
Yeah…not helpful.