How to be happier

It's been one of those days...I woke up grumpy, a little on the depressed side. I'm not sure why. Usually, I can pinpoint these things...trace them back to a single occurrence that affected my mood in a negative way. Today though, I can't. Something has just been "off", and I am not sure how to fix it. On my way to bed, I peruse my dear friend Shannon's blog (click here) and happen upon this great video about "how to be happier"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg#at=407 and it strikes a chord. So, taking a cue from the participants in the video, I want to tell you about the person who has made the biggest impact on my life, my mom. I have always been close to my mom. In my growing up years, and my teen-age years, she was always the person I wanted to spend time with. We had so much fun together, and we had so many great talks. Moving 13 hours away from her when I went off to college was difficult, but we made it through. We talked every.single.night on the phone. Yes, every one. As a newlywed, I remember my first night in my apartment with my new husband. It was then that I revealed to him that I had this "thing" where I called my mom (or she called me) every night before bed to say good-night. At that point, there was no going back on me (the vows had already been said), so I felt pretty safe in revealing this quirky little tidbit to him. At that moment, he realized my mom and I are a package deal. Throughout my years of grad school and learning to be a wife, she was always there for me (like she had always been all the years before), and our relationship deepened and changed, but only in good ways. After the birth of my first child, something happened to me. I'm not sure what it was...stress, hormones, trying to master the most important role of my life, who knows? But, it was during this time I experienced the most conflict with my mom that I had ever had up until that point. Now don't get me wrong, there was little drama, and what conflict we did have was usually resolved peacefully. But, I think we started to pull away from each other a bit. Maybe this move was necessary, or maybe it was just a reflection of what was happening in our life, but we made it through it. When I moved with my little family to Iowa, we experienced another little separation in our relationship. She was still the first one I wanted to call when I had good (or bad) news. She was still the one whose advice I counted on most. But, I think I needed this time to invest a little more of myself into my husband and my family. Fast forward a few years. We are back in North Dakota. In fact, she lives (most of the time) within a minute of my house. There are days we see each other or talk on the phone several times a day. There are strings of days in a row where we don't talk at all. I feel like our relationship has hit a "sweet spot." I know so much more now. I love my mom so much. I knew I loved her deeply, but when she went through a very serious health issue this past year, I was confronted, face-to-face, with the reality that I could lose her. And it was then that I realized that my love for her is similar to the love I have for my children...it is deep and limitless. Nothing she could say or do would ever make me stop loving her. I can't imagine my life without her, and I am so thankful God was Faithful to bring her to this point safely. She is the person who has made the biggest impact in my life. And now, I end my day, and I am happy.

"Early Induction" abortions in Fargo

One subject I am passionate about is pro-life. I feel that every Christian should make this a subject they are passionate about...it is a travesty what is happening to countless babies on any given day in America. And, being adopted, I also feel a personal investment in this particular issue. I often wonder if an abortion was considered when my biological parents found out about me. In Fargo, we have an abortion clinic that everyone knows about. There is much attention given state-wide to the only so-called "abortion clinic" in the state. However, many people probably do not know that abortions are performed frequently at our major health providers in Fargo--Sanford Health and Essentia, but are just termed "early inductions." This is a much cleaner and less offensive way to term a procedure that is taking the life of a baby before it is viable outside of the womb. The "early inductions" can be done for many reasons...the detection of fetal abnormality (the severity of the abnormality, however, remains to be seen), maternal health issues (which is probably another "gray" area), etc. When it comes to fetal abnormalities, we all can probably cite personal examples of people we know who were told their baby in utero would possess some sort of abnormality only to find out it was perfectly healthy upon delivery. How many of these "early induction" abortions are being performed on perfectly healthy babies? And, should that even matter? I guess I am one of those "right wing extremists" that believes abortion is not acceptable under any circumstance (except maybe in the dire emergency to save the life of the mother...and how often does that situation actually arise, statistically?) I know I have a VERY small voice, but if I can shed any light onto this subject through this blog and raise awareness in our community for what is happening under our noses, it will be worth it.