what I don't see

We pray for our sins to be forgiven: what has been done, what has not been done, what has been seen, what has not been seen. Today I saw something I tend not to see. It's easy to forget what we don't see- we forget that it exists and is very prevalent. The statistics in Memphis alone are devastating.

My OB's office is in Germantown, which is a nicer extension of Memphis. The general patient in the waiting room with me is black (my doctor is black, too), and well-dressed, seemingly educated. Today, one such mother came in while I was waiting. She had a girl with her, and the appointment was for the girl. I thought something for a second like, oh, bet she's here for a Gardasil shot, or do girls get PAP smears that young? Then when I was called back, the girl was, too. I was in a "cubicle" type pre-exam room getting weighed and having my blood pressure checked. So I overhead the nurse asking the girl some questions. I couldn't help listening after I head the nurse say, "Have you had the pregnancy confirmed anywhere else?"

The girl's reply is what really struck me: "Have I what?" She didn't understand the question. The nurse rephrased it, and the girl still didn't understand, replying simply, "That stick said I pregnant." I'm probably not doing her justice, but that is the exact grammar she used. When asked the date of her last menstrual period (to determine possible age of the baby) the girl was again flustered, not understanding what was being asked. The nurse worked with her and it became clear that the young lady didn't understand that menstruation cycles relate to fertility. If she didn't understand that...no wonder she was pregnant.

I also felt shock when the girl mentioned she had just turned 14. I'm just hitting my middle 20s, and having my 3rd baby. People react with shock that I am about to have three kids, not to mention my step-children who are for all practical purposes and heart reasons my kids as well. This girl is a child, and pregnant. She is pregnant, and doesn't really know why. She surely knows how, or her boyfriend knew the "how".

Dear reader, please pray for this child having a child. She's been on my mind all day. One of my Catholic friends likes to quote Mother Teresa, who said that "Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what it wants." "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." Pray for the millions of other girls having babies (or worse, not having them). And for those of us who are pregnant and have children, and are completely conscious of that beginning life...remember the poverty, not of wealth, but of ignorance. Rejoice, parents who are trying to raise children who know God, that you are able to know your children, and how they were created, and to Whom they belong. Not every child that is born lifeless is aborted. Many of them are alive and grown, in the exam room next to you, and the child in their womb is already facing a looming darkness.