Time to even the playing field...

So, I have wanted to blog lately...I really have, just every time I try, I wait too long and lose my thoughts. Well, right now, they are fresh, and I hope I can finish this post within the next 20 min..

Have you ever heard of a fistula? Well, I hadn't until this week while reading for my Women in International Health class. Basically, it is a condition that comes from obstructed labor during pregnancy. If left untreated, women lose their ability to control their "bodily functions"... that is the least graphic way I can explain it.

(PAUSE! i just looked at some pics on a friend's blog from her trip to Africa...I am going this summer no matter what it takes!)

Anyway, this condition is quite common for women in underdeveloped countries who don't have access to proper healthcare. They are basically shunned out of their society as a result of this condition (just imagine how you would smell if you were leaking bodily fluids). Their friends, families, and even spouses won't associate with them. After reading about it, we just watched a video that followed women with a fistula in Ethiopia. There, they have to have a fistula hospital separate from the normal hospital. Because of the stigma placed on these women, hospital personell won't even let them in...

Basically, I could go on and on...but my point is this....

As I sat in the classroom, I was embarassed for how bad I possibly smell. After working out at the SRC today and walking so much in the hot Arizona sun, I could just feel the dried sweat on my body and clothes. Here I was, worrying about my own body odor when there are hundreds of thousands of women in Africa and other places walking around with pee dripping down their legs...HOW INCREDIBLY MESSED UP IS THAT?! Here I am trying to wrap my head around dating and relationships, when girls my age have been forced into marriage, been pregnant, or had a fistula before my age...HOW INCREDIBLY MESSED UP IS THAT?!

All I want to say is that I am incredibly blessed, yet incredibly selfish...how many times to we take advantage of even the ability to have a conversation with friends or family without some stigma attached? How many times to we pity our petty little problems, when there are people in this world suffering from complete injustice.

Of three things I am sure:

1) This semester and this class will be trying on me emotionally, but I am extremely excited to "open up my eyes to the things unseen" and unknown to many people.

2)I am too easily wrapped up in my own little world, but I want to change that. I want to do something about the injustice in this world. I mean, who am I that I should be born into one of the wealthiest nations in the world, while so many others are forced to live in conditions that I cannot even fathom? I can't help but to do something to even the playing field...

3) God will be working on my heart this semester...I pray that he will lead me to where I can go and do justice for him, and really change this world. Lord, "show me how to love like you have loved me..."

May God be at work in your life, and may you see the many blessings you have in your life.

Peace and love,
Lisa