Go for the SHOCK factor!

I've been emotionally charged and fired up since I first saw the Time magazine cover with a 3-year-old boy standing on a stool breastfeeding. Yet every time I've taken pen to paper, I can't find the words. 


The truth is the 'old me' could spew venom with words alongside the best of them. Just ask anyone who's been the recipient of one of my stinging emails in the past! They'll tell you. It's true. I can fire up hate in the written format. 


Or at least I could. But lately it seems God's given me this gift to mince words. Instead of reacting, I stop, breathe and contemplate my next move. Which always seems to be prayer. And then I'm suddenly at peace and don't feel the need to say or write anything, least of all hateful words. 


Well, at least I've perceived this as a gift until now. Because I'm angry about this, and it's causing some serious writer's block...and possibly profanity. Sorry about that. I'm so angry that I really want to write something using lots of four-letter words. You see I'm still struggling to find the right words, so please bear with me!


I have been praying, and I have been reading what others have to say about this intentionally shocking photograph. And it's interesting really, the conversations that are occurring. 


Sadly, all too often they're the wrong ones. Since I've stopped, breathed and prayed and still feel the need to voice my opinion, here it is. Take it or leave it. I don't care. It simply needs to come out. 


The supposed issue at hand in this divisive mothering article: attachment parenting. Good or not good?


I'm so sick and tired of the criticisms of moms and women, scattered throughout advertising and media in our country. Pitting woman against woman, forcing us to decide one way or another. As if there's only ONE right way to be a mom. Why have we not embraced the beauty of motherhood in all its diversity? 


I'll tell you why not. 


Time selected a 90-pound mother in skinny jeans for the cover shot. What an unrealistic portrayal of mother to begin with. What is the message we're sending here? The ONE right way to be a woman so typically and disgustingly predictable of the media. Thin. Fashionable. Blemish-free. Calm. In a word: Perfect. Just like these 'mommy wars' suggest there's only one way you can be the perfect mom. 


Pardon me, but it's simply bullshit.

No wonder our teenage girls are suffering from so many mental health issues that they carry right on into adulthood. 


Mind you I just returned from Africa, where literally a village will help raise a child because a mother couldn't possibly be expected to do it alone. Because that's the reality! There's no taboo about a woman exposing her breasts in public to nurse her baby, or toddler, or preschooler. Oh, the joy and beauty of open-mindedness!


So let's talk about the real issue here: we live in a society that thrives on comparisons and criticisms. If the so-called Joneses have it, then it must be good and we must all go get it. If you don't have what the Joneses have, there absolutely must be something wrong with you.


And so, here is my wish list for what the Joneses would get so the rest of us will go chasing it, too. Don't worry, it's not a long list. Are you ready?






























EYES LIKE GOD'S. 


So women will see themselves as the beautiful creations they are. 


So the media moguls will begin to portray women for what they really are: diverse and amazing. 


So we will stop picking at the specks in our sister's or brother's eyes. 


So we will help our neighbor in need. 


So we will serve one another the way Jesus so lovingly illustrated for us. 


So we will all be MOM ENOUGH! To love unconditionally. To care for, embrace and encourage ALL children, not just our own. 'Cause that's what women here used to do, you know, until we as a society decided there's something morally wrong with us helping one another out in this incredibly challenging task of raising our children to be the best they can be. 


Let's stop picking on moms. Because the truth is there are 143 million+ orphans who would take a mom regardless of whether or not she supports attachment parenting, prefers formula over breastfeeding, works outside the home or stays home, uses clothe diapers or disposable ones, allows her kids to have a cell phone or not. 


Do you see what I'm saying? These are NOT the real issues! 


According to UNICEF, there are more orphans than the entire population of Russia. 


Did you know....


Every day, 5,760 more children in our world become orphans? 


Every 2.2 seconds, an orphan ages out with no family or home. 


Older orphans are often victimized. They are prone to abuse, suicide, prostitution, slavery, being turned into child soldiers and immorality. 


If you think for a moment this isn't your problem, this is where you're wrong. These children aren't all in developing countries. There are hundreds of thousands of them in the foster care system in the United States. There are neglected and abused children and orphans in your community.


Every year, about 25,000 children age out of foster care at age 18. Of them: 
* 25 percent become homeless. 
* 56 percent enter the unemployment ranks. 
* 27 percent of emancipated male foster children end up in jail. 
* 30 percent of emancipated female foster children experience early parenthood. 


What if we took all the energy that is necessary to perpetuate these myths, these lies about womanhood and motherhood and used them to create good? 


Time magazine isn't the only one that can go for the shock factor. Let's start a movement that goes against the expectations for humankind! Let's BE MOM ENOUGH to change these statistics. 


Because the truth is if we really have eyes like God, together we can change the numbers. 




“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 82:3-4