Year in Review, Part 10

Stressful Days at the Capitol

As the legislative session was coming to a close in May, we were increasingly busy at the Capitol, reading bills (dozens of them, hundreds of pages thick!) every day, taking care of children so that their mothers could speak with their legislators, fighting every day to keep our midwifery provision that had passed from being stripped out in a subsequent bill.

Christy multi-tasking: Feeding Sammy his bottle, and scanning a bill for "bad amendments"

The last week was so very tense, as our bill lay safely on the Governor's desk waiting to be signed, and every day the opposition did their best to pass an amendment in another bill that would strip our midwifery provision out of the bill on his desk.

Every day the newspapers carried ugly stories about how the bill had passed (most of the senators weren't paying attention or reading the bill and did not realize that midwifery had been amended into a huge health/health insurance bill until after they had passed it).

Every day we wanted to explain to people what had really happened, but we couldn't tell the whole story for many sensitive reasons. To this day, we haven't even been able to tell our supporters the whole story, as the midwifery law is now tied up in the courts... and heading to the Missouri Supreme Court.

A crew of volunteers, mostly homebirth mothers, scanning bills in the Capitol cafeteria.
"Folks, we have to get through this 300 page bill in the next fifteen minutes and know if it's clean, because the senators are asking if it is safe to vote for..."
So, we pushed our lunch aside, tore off a chunk of pages for each person and started reading....

During that last week, those of us cloistered in an office reading bills furiously from morning to night (trying to catch all of the bad amendments the opposition was trying to insert) were under so much pressure not to miss anything or mess up when declaring a bill "clean" so that our supporters would know they were "safe" to vote on the bill currently being debated on the floor. Part of the time hordes of reporters would come by the office with their microphones, cameras, and notepads and press in, asking pointed questions, shoving microphones in front of us, asking to speak to particular people who they thought might have a juicy quote for them... Then we'd read the newspaper coverage and groan over the negative spin put on what we said, and call our supporters and ask them to respond to the flurry of blogging going on about the midwifery provision...
Tensely, we asked some of the volunteers to take the babies and children outside who were there for the day, and others of us had discussions about our maddening position.

What were we to do? What was the next right thing? Maybe all this work would be for naught and the opposition would find a way to sabotage us anyway.... Would the Governor even sign the bill? He was being pressured from many directions to veto it.
Some people cried, some people yelled, and some people buried themselves in the work there was to do! It was a long, miserable week.

Joanna is entertaining both herself and another volunteer's little girl by sliding down the
front steps of the Capitol!

I have read through 20 bills in the last hour! What an accomplishment!

Year in Review, Part 9

Real, Genuine Honesty in the Face of Insincerity

Magnolias in bloom on the Missouri Capitol lawn

I scribbled my thoughts on a scrap of paper and tucked in in my lobbying folder one afternoon at the Capitol last April. Reading it again today, my thoughts seemed so very relevant as I continue to encounter more and more of exactly what I wrote about. So, I'll share it below. And, yes, this has been my life for the past year! (I have left out names of particular legislators to protect their identities.)


It has been hard to go from my life of interacting mostly with my family and friends who are "just like me" to a life of interacting constantly with legislators, staff, and the public.

It's so easy to become superficial in this world... simply use people for what you need them for; then move on. It's easy not to take the time to just stop and love then and care about them. The Capitol is full of insincere people slapping each other on the back and oozing with flattery. It has been everywhere for the last couple of years that I've been there, and I've been well aware of it. But I had never fully felt the ugliness of insincerity till last week. Last week, it seemed to ooze from every pore in the granite walls and coat the marble steps. It seemed that everywhere I turned, there was another insincere smile from someone seeking their own interests.

I couldn't get away from it. I finally went outside and slumped on a bench under one of the magnolias and cried, "Oh, God! Am I becoming as insincere as the rest of the building? Am I genuine, honest, and real? Or am I just another smiling, hand-shaking fake? Do I really love anybody here? Do I really care about them?"

I thought about all of the forced smiles and pleasant comments that I had put on that very morning with the senators who hate my bill. Inwardly, I wanted to scream when I said "thank you" to the Floor Leader's office, but I didn't. I smiled, nodded, and acted grateful even though I was furious about what he was really doing behind the scenes. I knew it wouldn't get me anywhere to tell him what I thought of his actions, so I didn't.

I thought about the committee chairman who I had run into in the hall that morning. He told me that he had done what I had asked him to do - kill a bad bill coming through his committee. He grinned and said, "You owe me big, girl!" I had nodded, still shocked that he had actually done what I asked him to. I had stammered, "Yeah, I - I sure do!" That was genuine. I should have been shouting for joy over this improvement; but I only wanted to cry. I blamed it on the four hours of sleep a night that I was running on; the stress overload. I had barely been able to eat my lunch as I was still reeling from a horrible confrontation with a very angry senator. I still couldn't understand why she was so upset, and particularly at me!

And... oh, yes. I hadn't followed up with a thank you note to the Governor's office for the meeting we had on Wednesday. I was planning to write a gushy thank you letter. But, maybe, I decided... a simple, very genuine thank you would be more... more... the kind of person I wanted to be -- real and genuine. I decided to be real. Mom would be happy. She's always telling me to just simply be myself and not worry about impressing people when I'm worried about how I will come across at an important meeting.

Out the bench, the magnolia petals were dropping and being trampled by the hundreds of people strolling past each day. I cried out for a humble heart, a genuine love for lost people, and simple honesty. That sounded better to me than ___'s Rolex watches, french cuffs, and gold tie clasps. It sounded better than ___'s back slapping, flirting, and wining and dining anyone who he wanted to use. It sounded real. It sounded simple, and just plain good.

I smiled through my tears and went back inside to go to work with an honest heart and a genuine smile. My cell phone buzzed. It was one of the senators with some good news. Another real person, who's honest, who's always told me the truth, even if I didn't want to hear it.
His honesty was a breath of fresh air to my asphyxiating soul, choking on the fumes of a disingenuous Capitol world.

"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully..." Ps. 24: 3,4

"He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from the holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high.." Isaiah 33:15, 16

Above: The Missouri Senate in session ~ 2007

Above: Allison, Elizabeth, Mary - reading bills, and figuring out what to do next!

Above: It's been a long morning at the Capitol. Debbie, Keith, Mary over lunch

Pouring over amendments...

Year in Review, Part 8

Ruth has been an avid picture-taker for several years now, and I would say that she is rapidly advancing towards being a real bonna fide professional photographer.

When no one else wants to sit for a portrait session with her and she has some new ideas for lighting or poses or who-knows-what, she uses herself as the subject! : ) And I'll have to credit her with at least 90 percent of the photos posted on my blog. Thanks, Ruth!

Year in Review, Part 8

My sweet sisters...



They love being girls!



At left: Liz enjoying
someone else's garden : )











Below: Ruth, Liz, Joanna

Year in Review, Part 7

Joanna (12)
is always one of
the first to
head for the creek!






Our family owns a piece of land off the beaten path, about 15 miles away from where we live that's a lovely rolling hayfield. At the back of the land is a spring, creek, and a few acres of woods that rise up steeply on the back side of the creek.
We bought it planning to build a house and move there years ago, but our house didn't sell. Now we're glad that we're still in this house (albeit it a little cramped on our two and a half acres), so we've tried to sell that piece of land, but haven't really had any serious buyers. So, for now, it sits there and we cut the hay and plant about an acre in garden (potatoes, pumpkins, corn, raspberries, etc, that we don't have to spend a lot of time tending) in the spring.
Mom and Jemima spend a lot of time over there this year, clearing brush, planting, making stone pathways by the creek, trying to beautify it. The younger kids usually went along and when taking a break from working on the land, like usual, they found the creek a great place to play.... even if it was freezing cold near the spring!





Someone even
talked Steve
into going
wading for a
few minutes!
It looks rather
cold, though,
doesn't it?

Year in Review, Part 6

Our church rents a lovely campground every Sunday as our meeting place, and in the spring it is particularly beautiful! It is also home to one of the larger springs in the state, and so a favorite activity after church and a potluck lunch is to take a walk down the hill to the spring. The little ones go wading in the freezing water and find crawdads, and the older ones just enjoy listening to the water and visiting... It's a great place to hear yourself think!



The girls are
off to the
spring!











Liz,
Becca,
Jeanette,
Lydia

Year in Review, Part 5

Babies, babies, babies....




They were everywhere
last spring.
We babysat several
toddlers for the
neighbors, had lots
of visitors with
babies, and then the
animals got in on
the fun, too! :)

~Joanna
with Bo







Noah with
his favorite
little friend,
Adam.

We've spent
a lot of time with
Adam ever since
he was 2 months
old, and we've
all "adopted"
him as our favorite
little "nephew." : )
















My cat, Gina, had kittens...
















Sam bought several baby goats, and raised them...

Year in Review, Part 4

My brother, Isaiah, has spent a good part of the last two years working for the Anchor Academy for troubled boys in Montana (recently re-located to Missouri). We're happy that he has the opportunity to make a difference in their lives, but we miss him dreadfully when he's gone from home. This spring, the Anchor made a trip through California, with the boys choir singing in various churches (above).











Zaiah, back home, holding his friend's baby every chance he gets!
I'm sooo glad my brothers love babies and little people! : )



















About a year ago, Zaiah got our younger brother, Abe, "addicted" to working at the Anchor as well. So now we loose both of them a good portion of the time. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, and their "homecomings" are all the more special the less we see them!

(L-R:)
Sam
Ruth
Liz
Abe
Joanna

Year in Review, Part 3

My brother,
Abe,
sharing
the gospel
with
whoever
will listen!
(Memphis, TN
Spring '07)









Throughout the spring, various members of our family enjoyed going to the Springfield square with some of the folks from church who go there faithfully every Friday night to talk with anyone who will listen... about God, life, if the Bible is true, social issues of the day, President Bush, drugs, gangs, creation science, homelessness.... Sometime conversations get really interesting!

At the square, you never know who you are going to meet, or what people hanging out for the evening are going to say or want to talk about. But, the goal is to bring their thoughts to what life is really all about, Who made them, and if they are ready to answer to their Maker someday.

When desiring to share the gospel with someone, I often think of the story of the woman at the well in the Bible. Everyone else ignored the Samaritan woman as she went about her daily tasks. After all, she was of low class, messed up... in short, the Jews didn't talk to people like her.
But Jesus stopped.
He didn't hit her over the head with a fire and brimstone sermon. He didn't bring up her five husbands first. Rather, He showed interest and concern for her as a person. He engaged her in conversation. Then He went straight for her heart. He knew that she was lonely, hurting, and empty... and that is exactly were He steered the conversation. Did she want living water, He asked? He aroused her curiosity... Soon she was asking to know more, to know what he thought about her religion's teachings...
And a few minutes later, she was running back to the city to tell the men that she had found the Messiah. "Come see a Man that told me all things that I ever did!"

That's the goal when we share the gospel at the square -- to bring people to realization of their lives before a holy God, and then to point them to Living Water.

Below: It's the tradition to spend a few hours at the Square, and then head over to Braum's for ice cream and "de-briefing" before heading home. Someone always has quite a story about an experience with someone on the street!

First picture: Some of the dads, in the back ground, some of the girls
Second picture: Some of the younger guys, relating the experiences of the night

Year in Review, Part 2

One of the first things I did in 2007 was participating in an hour long interview on midwifery with a popular local talk radio station. It was a first time for me to do something like that, but thankfully there were also 2 other mothers, a homebirth dad, and a friendly physician taking part in the live discussion.
Little did I know that in a few short months, I would get as many as a dozen phone calls a day from reporters, all wanting an interview on the same subject!













About the same time, I headed back to our state capitol, to advocate for legalizing midwives in Missouri for the third year in a row.

I distinctly remember my trembling feet as I climbed the long set of stairs to the Capitol building three years ago... and my awe at the soaring architecture and figures high above my head. My sisters and friends who had agreed to come on my adventure all remember my nervous, "Okay, what do we do? Where do we go?" once we got inside the building.

We found the meeting going on in the Capitol basement, and were told to go find our state representative's office and bring him/her a fact sheet about midwives and tell them that we were there in support of the midwifery bill that had just been filed.
















My sisters and I still laugh about that day several years ago. We went to our state representative's office, hoping he wouldn't be in, because we didn't know what to say. It would be bad enough to drop the fact sheet off with his secretary and hope that she understood what we were there for!

Unfortunately, the representative himself was in his office, right behind the door and he asked me to explain my issue. (Talk about scary - and someone in a tweed suit from the Department of Corrections was sitting there beside him with a briefcase of papers strewn about... The corrections guy listened to my whole spiel with a smirk, which made me all the more nervous!)

To make a long story short, I left his office feeling totally foolish and wishing I had never come because I felt as though I had only hurt my cause. I went home and vowed to myself that I would never again come back to try to talk to an elected official because that was not "my thing" and I would never be able to comfortably and articulately explain myself to such people! I'd always known that people and speaking were my weak points in life... Why was I so silly to get into this?

A few months later, I was talked into coming back to the Capitol, and I've pretty much been there ever since, nearly every day that the legislators are there. I still hate public speaking and crowds of people, and thankfully manage to get out of most of that, but I have done things that I would have never thought possible a couple of years ago. I have testified before the Senate Committees, and have spoke (one-on-one) with a majority of the nearly 200 legislators who work in the building. Many of the senators who I once thought were so scary and unreachable are now good friends of mine. Many of the staff people who I preferred to quickly hand a fact sheet to and ask to "pass it on" now love to chat about their kids, cars, gardens, churches, and a million other things when I drop by their offices.

Every single day that I work at the Capitol, I am reminded of how I can't, but God can!
"When I am weak, then am I strong..." I am keenly aware of my inability when it comes to verbal communication, and I find myself constantly crying out for more help and grace from a God who is Big Enough that He never runs out or stops giving when I need it!

The Capitol is no longer frightening to me because it's a big building full of strange people. It's now familiar... almost as much as home. I know every secret stairway, storage room, and crack in the marble. I know the people walking around inside and they know me.

It's no longer scary or huge or unknown... But it's incredibly frustrating to know so much of what happens behind the scenes and be unable to do anything about it. It's so frustrating to know that in that building, justice doesn't always triumph, right doesn't always prevail. Sometime money wins. Sometimes power and greed and pride win at the end of the day.

With all that happens at the Capitol, I find myself needing constant reminders that God IS in control, and He can and will bring justice about someday.

I can't fix anything there, but He can!
I think that needs to be my mantra for 2008! : )