I woke of this morning praying and giving thanks to God for his grace and mercy in allowing my family and I to see another day. Grateful that I did not receive a phone call that someone that I love or someone that I know will never see the light of day again. Now, I know you may be wondering, “Why am I writing a blog about senseless killings instead of women’s health medicine?” It is simple; I am the mother of three beautiful children that God entrusted me to rear into compassionate, loving, giving productive members of society. It is so alarming to wake up to news of senseless murders of any and all individuals who were just going about their lives doing their daily activities. I write because the world that I knew has forever changed. When I have a twenty year old that I am afraid to let grow up and experience life’s journey because I don’t know if he will return home alive and in good health or if I will have to identify him in the morgue. We as parents have to take accountability for the actions of our children. The bible states to train up a child in the way that he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6. I ask, “Where have we gone wrong?” Why do people, mostly our younger generation, have no regards for life? I talk to my children all the time and remind them that it is easy to take a life but you can NEVER give that life back and further it is not your life to take. So, why aren’t more parents saying the same thing to their children? I am not sitting on a soap box as if my children don’t have flaws, because no man is perfect except the Father (God). But, when do we get tired of the murders daily and make a stand. Who knows the stand you make today to save a life just might be your own life! It seems that no one is immune to these crimes. You have children killing their mothers, husbands killing their wives, mothers killing their children and on and on. We must make a stand to help these children that are loss. Sometimes, all it takes is making an effort to talk to a child that seems as if no one cares. You never know if just a few moments in time will change a person’s life for the better or prevent that person from making a decision that could not only impact his or her life but also the lives of others.

Simply put communication and love is what’s missing in a lot of young people’s lives. Now you may be wondering, how does this relate to medicine or women’s health? I tell you that medicine is not just about healing the body and keeping it healthy. But, it is also about healing the mind and emotional health and keeping both of those healthy. I know that I am not alone in how I feel. I have had mothers coming into the office who have loss a child to violence or who have had children to be imprisoned because of violence. See, it is not only the family of a loved one loss that hurts. The family of the one that made the wrong decision to end someone’s life is hurt as well. So, maybe if we all return to simpler times of each one teach one and it takes a village to raise a child, MAYBE JUST MAYBE, the world could be a better place to live. For those who are reading this, it is my prayer that perhaps my words have touched your heart in a way that you are motivated to mentor a younger person on choosing the right decisions in life.