This day was established in 2010 as a special day set aside
to honor and celebrate mothers who carry some, if not all, of their children in
their hearts rather than in their arms. In our modern society, mothers who are
grieving the death of their babies or children are often forgotten. Traditional
Mother’s Day proves to be an emotionally difficult day for so many mothers
around the world.
So on this special day each year these mothers can come together
to celebrate their connection with one another, their children, and their hope
for the future. They look at their ultra sound pictures, pictures they have of
their lost ones, polish their urns, lay flowers at their graves, visit special
places, and light candles in their memories.
So on this day, I’d like to honor my many friends who hold
some, even all, of their precious ones in their hearts and memories. You are beautiful
women and mothers. I admire your spirits—that you are living such beautiful
lives is a tribute to all your children.
Take 27 minutes out of your day to watch this video that can change your life and the lives of many people around the world.
Why does this video matter? Why should you care? Can your voice really make a difference? I believe it can!
For about 5 years I've privately cried and prayed over the situation of child-soldiering not knowing there was a community like this doing something world-wide about it.
Thank you to a dear friend for opening my eyes to this community and for sharing this video...and for motivating me to action!
(On a side note, I'm proud to have known you as a child and proud to
know you as the lovely young lady you've become!)
Couldn't watch the whole video? Didn't have those spare 27 minutes? Below is a brief summary of what you would learn.
Joseph Kony is a Ugandan guerrilla group leader, head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a group engaged in a violent campaign to establish theocratic government throughout Uganda. The LRA say that God has sent spirits to communicate this mission directly to Kony. His "war" is for no other reason but to maintain his control--it is, in short, a power trip.
Directed by Kony, the LRA has earned a reputation for its actions against the people of several countries, including northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan. It has abducted and forced an estimated 66,000 children to fight for them, and has also forced the internal displacement of over 2,000,000 people since its rebellion began in 1986. (according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kony)
These child-soldiers are often forced to kill their own families. They are forced to kill and mutilate their own countrymen.
As a result of his actions, in 2005 Kony was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, and tops their list as Most Wanted, but has succeeded in evading capture since.
This video was produced by Invisible Children Organization, a community that endorses, supports, and will continue to spread the word until justice is served: that is when Joseph Kony is arrested for his many crimes in Africa. Their goal is to keep his face, his crimes in the forefront of the media & politic worldwide this year with the hopes that by Dec 31, 2012, he will have been found and arrested for his crimes against humanity.
No child should ever be abducted and forced to fight in Kony's violent campaigns....KONY 2012!!!
Now—will YOU allow this knowledge to change & motivate you to make a real difference in the world?
*The KONY 2012 campaign employs film, social media, street art, and
face-to-face interaction to make the case that
the arrest of Joseph Kony this year
is one thing we can all agree on.*
**A reminder that people should research any and all groups prior to giving money to them.**
UPDATE:
In full disclosure I wanted to say that I have no personal knowledge of Invisible Children or their fund-raising/finances. And there have been question about Invisible Children.
In fact, there are those who question the ethics the Invisible Children organization. For instance, this has been posted about them. But I don't know any more about the person writing that article than I do the IC organization. And the Huffington Post says this. In response, Invisible Children has posted this on their website.
But as I said above, 5 years ago, my eyes were opened more the horrors of child soldiering in Africa (in part because of the movie Blood Diamond). I read books written by actual former child soldiers from Sierra Leone and Uganda. I read books by people leaving these nations and Somalia. And I cried in private and I prayed.
So perhaps Invisible Children has its own issues. I don't know: I need to do my own research.
However, if Invisible Children can actually motivate people around the world in such a way that Kony arrested and tried for his crimes, more power to them! If people are motivated to learn about the injustices in Africa, and then are motivated to do something about the situations...whether through IC or through World Vision or through Voice of the Martyrs or another organization....I don't know Amnesty International or the Peace Corps. Something. Anything. This just has to stop.
Yet Another Update: Another interesting topic has come up in regards to this movie/movement and that is the voices of the people saying, "What about the heinous crimes going on in our own cities & nation? We should be just as passionate about what is going on in our communities and country." and "We need to start by taking care of our backyard before we can take care of the world. We need to focus on the 2012 elections here and bring about change here." or "We need to be praying for the sins of our own nations." etc, etc.
My response?
I agree that we need to be passionate about and be motivated to pray and act on behalf of our own country, however, I do believe that things like the IC/Kony video going viral are also important. We need to look both to our neighbors and our global community.
The world is not as large as many people think. The internet and things like Facebook have shrunk it further. If we do not educate ourselves about what is going on around us globally, if we close our eyes to the pain and suffering of our neighbors both near and far, we will be destined to repeat the past: a past that includes child-soldiering, Rwanda, the Holocaust, and many other atrocities.
Sometimes we forget that when Cain flippantly answered to God "Am I my brother's keeper?" that indeed God found that he was. We need to think, pray, act, and give locally and globally. Also remember that God calls different people to focus more fully on different areas; for some it may be social issues abroad; for others, social issues here at home; for others, it may not involve social issues at all. Alone we cannot accomplish much. Together we can. At home, across our individual cities, towns, countries, and globally. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What I find most interesting is the conversations that this is generating. I hope that it moves beyond conversation into real action~both here and abroad. That hearts will be changed and people will be galvanized into not standing by while atrocities are commited in our own backyard. Because, whether we live in Africa or America, or Antarctica, these things are happening in our backyard. When it comes down to it, this man, Joseph Kony is no different than Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Nocolae Ceauşescu, the Ayatollah Khomeini, Jean Kambanda, Saddam Hussein, or Muammar Gaddafi. The people Kony leads are no different than Hitler's Nazis or the Rwandan militia who followed those in leadership at the time of genocide, nor those who carried out Khomeini's jihad against their own countrymen who did not want to follow him.
The question is, will we be different? Will we stand quietly by and watch these heinous crimes continue to take place? Will we let evil men continue to rule? Or will we stand up and raise our voices against these crimes and these perpetrators? Will we comfort those who are hurting, the down-trodden, the suffering? Will we ease their pain and hold accountable those who caused it? Will we pray, give, speak out, reach out, act out? What will we do?
Everyone has been telling me I should start my own blog..."Why?" I've wondered...My life is boring! Maybe it's cuz I overwhelm them with email notices from Snapfish? (I do take a lot of pictures!) Maybe my friends actually think I'm interesting! Or maybe they don't realize how boring my life actually is? Never-the-less, friends kept encouraging, so here it is: Mixed Up Musings from Auntie M. Perhaps if I just think of it as talking to myself~which I do anyway~it won't be so weird feeling. Who knows?! Guess we'll find out!
OK... So who am I? Hmmm...how to start? I am a (nearly) 39-year-old single woman who has seen her fair share of triumphs & tragedies and is fervently hoping the former out-weigh the latter! Hoping the triumphs shine through and the tragedies~while molding a part of who I am~will never define who I am. (Guess that sounds ok...????)
(Some of) the Hard Stuff:
I was once a career(ish) woman (let's keep this real!) who kept hoping love, marriage, & children would eventually come. Guess what? They haven't! I've always wanted children~both natural & adopted, but the fates of time (and health) have intervened. Several years ago I started noticing that something was amiss with my health. But I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was and as things progressed (downhill) neither could doctors. I began falling a lot (not realizing that I had really lost feeling in my feet & lower legs). I felt sick all the time--I bought about a gillion thermometers convinced I was running high fevers and none of those freakin' thermometers worked! But I knew I had fevers: I was flushed, my body ached & tingled. I couldn't concentrate. I was gaining weight rapidly despite eating healthy. I'd had to quit exercising due to all of the above, but still!
Eventually I was forced to go to doctors...but only because I fell once again (over nothing) & managed to break my foot & sprain both ankles. Then the truth came out~I could no longer deny that something was wrong with me. While the search was on for a diagnosis, things just got worse & worse...I lost feeling in my hands & arms, had tremors in my extremities, was increasingly unable to walk, and was even experiencing temporary paralysis. I had pain throughout my entire body~muscle & joint aches, the feeling of pins, needles, knives across my skin & through my entire body. I began to lose my language & executive skills.
I went through multiple doctors (including a neurologist who told me I was crazy & it was all in my head). As I searched for answers, I slowly built up a team of good doctors: I already had a great OBGYN, and soon added a new GP, a rheumatologist, and~finally~a great neurologist. Later a neuropsychiatrist & an endocrinologist also joined the team.
The results: I have fibromyalgia that was most likely triggered by the peripheral polyneuropathy that had been caused by a SEVERE lack of vitamin B12 as well as a lack of B1. Lacking B12 turns out to be a fairly BAD thing!! The stress of all this caused (hopefully) temporary encephalopathy. Basically: my body gave out on itself. I had to quit my job. My mother moved in to take care of me. (*Note~if you truly want to know what some of those medical terms mean, go to Wikipedia & search them out...I'm not going to really bore you w/all those details!!
The good news is that while I may never fully recover, I am getting better. My balance & walking have slowly improved. Some days are really great~I feel almost normal. Some days are really rotten~either being racked with pain and/or trouble speaking/thinking. I am in some sort of pain every day. I take a ton of medications to keep me from trembling, to reduce pain, to help my brain function. I do weekly B12 injections to keep my body balanced.
The biggest blows~for me~were:
1) losing my independence
2) Dealing with loss of brain function (I like to think I was pretty damn smart, so not always being able to remember words, speak fluently, or concentrate well really pretty much sucks)
3) Never being able to have children of my own (being pregnant can kill me~my brain is too fragile to handle the hormones) or being able to adopt (there's no way I could take care of a child because of my health).
To be honest, number 3 hit me the hardest.
(Some of) the Great Stuff:
OK~enough of all that crap...who wants to hear about all that?!?!
Now for the biggest joy in my life: Being an Aunt! I am proud to say that I am the aunt of 3 wonderful nephews and 3 wonderful neices...with another little one on the way.
Those who know me, may ask where did she get all those kids from? Didn't her sister & brother-in-law just have their 1st child a mere 8 weeks ago? And aren't her brother & sister-in-law just now pregnant? True...however I am proud to also be called auntie by 4 other wonderful children.
I am the oh-so-proud Auntie M to my wonderful, adorable, brilliant niece: My little Tea~Rose who was born February 24th to my sister & her husband...
Yes, that's us! :-)
I am also proud to be an aunt-in-waiting to my brother & his wife's little one who should be here shortly before Thanksgiving:
Wonder who he or she will be!
I also get to play auntie to my brother-in-law's incredible neice & nephew, Kenyan & Van. I adore them & love spending time with them. I am so blessed to now live only 5 minutes away from them (and my Tea~Rose).
Aren't they cute?!
I am also auntie to my sister-in-law's neice, Ava. I've known her since she was 2 & now she is such a grown up girl of nearly 10 years old! Gracious!!
A & her Auntie D, my sis-in-law
And one of my dearest friends, Natasha lets me be auntie to her 2 beautiful boys. Thanks, Tash! I miss Jackson & Sawyer....a visit from Auntie M is long overdue!!
Adorable, I know!
So there you have it...the beginnings of a blog from someone who, while thinking her life is fairly boring, knows that it is over-filled with love!
