Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Not Normal

A few days ago I was reading a book about the modern day horrors that women throughout the world experience (sex trafficking, slavery, political oppression, spousal abuse, etc, etc). The book is called Half the Church, and so far I give it two thumbs up. Anyway, one particular line jumped up and grabbed me, and still won't let go. She said something to the effect of realizing that her life, here in middle class America, is not normal.
I am not normal. It is not normal to have an attached garage, and to have a car, and to ask my kids what they want for breakfast and know that they have no less than 10 options readily available to suit their whims. It is not normal to be sitting here on my couch, in a quiet house, with 2 loads of clean laundry piled next to me waiting to be folded. It is not normal that my husband is away on a ministry trip, and that I can text him whenever I want to connect. It is not normal that I get to listen to praise music while driving my daughter home from school, and asking her what she learned today.
Many (even a majority?) of the women across the world wouldn't find any of that normal. We abnormal ones have heard about the others. We've seen shows on tv, or read articles in magazine while waiting in the lobby of a doctors office (which by the way, is super abnormal for the rest of the world). We've heard reports from missionaries, or politicians, or talk shows. We know that women in other cultures don't get the advantages we do: education, safety, respect, income, health care...
So I've been thinking about that word a lot - normal. If this life I'm living is not normal, what do I need to do about that? I've been trying not to care about silly things any more: like the fact that I still have Christmas decorations up and Valentine's Day is around the corner. But should I not care just so that I am not frivolous to waste energy on caring about silly things, or should I not care because instead I am too busy caring about (and therefore working for, somehow) issues of justice for my sisters throughout the world.
I'm just a middle class American wife and mom. What should I do with this abnormal life of mine?

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