Getting Ready to Leave

Five days until I jump on a plane to Santo Domingo, DR.  It's 5 am and I can't sleep.  I have been waking up the last week with the trip on my mind and trying to remember (and list) all the things I need to get done before I leave.  It seems like an impossible task to get ready to leave 10 children and a husband!  Throw in there that last week my mother had a medical emergency that took me to CA for seven days and my daughter, Victoria, graduated from Georgia State University on Saturday.  And the two Lamaze classes I am teaching this week and the five doula appointments I have....does it sound a bit crazy?

I have been surprised by people's reactions that I am going to the Dominican Republic for eight days!  I have recieved  great encouragement from  many people!  And often from those that I would least expect!  Women have surprised me in great ways with bags of supplies, a doppler, money, clothing for babies, scrubs for the nurses, gloves, etc.  One friend gave about 30 sets of barely worn scrubs that I know will bless the nurses there!  The unexpected checks have covered medical supplies and will be used to buy supplies there! How wonderful to see how God is weaving this all together!   What I have enjoyed most of all are the cards and emails sent to me from women all over the world telling me that they would be praying for me.  That, I believe, is the most essential necessity for my Dominican trip.

Some people have looked at me with puzzlement, and even horror, at the idea that I would want to travel to a  impoverished country and help women greet their newborns.  My own father's reaction was "That's a really poor country.  Why do you want to go there?  They make Mexico look nice."  My mother's reaction (a little more understandable) was "Why are you trying to kill me?" .  You see, I have one daughter going to Peru in July and one going to Haiti in June.  She thinks we are all trying to scare her to death. I had one lady tell me not to go and that I was not taking care of myself or my family by going. Another said that she didn't know why "anyone" would want to do this.   Some think I am just a bored homeschooling mother looking for adventure and I should just find another hobby.  Why am I going?

I am going to the Dominican Republic because I feel called to midwifery and called to help women in  pregnancy, labor, and post partum.   God has used my life to draw me into midwifery and to  be able to bless others with the gift of being "with woman" in  labor.  I find labor exciting and challenging; intense and rewarding.  There is nothing more thrilling than seeing a new miracle born or the look of love and joy in a mother's eyes.  I see God's hand in it all; He's designed us wonderfully to birth these beautiful babies.  I enjoy supporting women and encouraging  them.  I believe every woman deserves good support in labor and excellent midwifery care by women who truly trust the process of birth.  I am going to the Dominican Republic because I feel called to reach out to women who have much less, to share with them, to bless them, and to let them know that  God loves them deeply and richly. I am not going to earn some invisible good person points, escape my life as a mother, or take a vacation.  While I am bringing medical supplies to bless the women there, I am also bringing something greater. I bring the love of mothering, the wisdom of having birthed 11 of my own babies, the ability to support women well in the labor process, and the joy that Jesus has given to me in my mothering journey.  That, I hope, will be what people see in me on my Dominican journey.