Oh man! I'll just warn you - I am emotional wreck today. I don't know if I'm caught up in the emotions of Valentine's Day or if I'm over tired but all morning I've been teetering on the brink of tears. Over little things, like some sweet secretive soul leaving a Valentine on our front door step for Erica last night so that first thing this morning she would find a little package wrapped in a grocery bag with a little tag attached to it that simply said, "Erica" and a heart shaped pillow inside with the embroidered words, "My Heart Belongs to You" on it. COME ON! How sweet is that!?!?! That is one thoughtful Valentine. I have a feeling who it is from but isn't that part of the fun is not knowing and then secretly "hoping" it's from that special someone that your heart beats a little faster for?! So, anyhow, this serves as fair warning - If you aren't in the mood for a sad read - Click on one of my other blog posts like: We will Never Be the Same" that will give you a good laugh. This post unfortunately will not.
Sometimes you see some pretty crazy stuff here in India. Unfortunately, sometimes you start to get used to it. One of the terrible realities of India (that I will NEVER get used to) is the plight of many unborn girl babies in India. It is a well known fact - You see it on billboards and in the news - Families kill girl babies when they are born simply because they are GIRLS! The families view them as a burden. As the daughter reaches marrying age (which here could be as young as 13!) the family will be required to have a dowry in order to make their daughter's value more appealing to a young man's family. The dowry is a great stress on many families and they simply don't see any other way but to "get rid of" the girl when she is a baby
I have seen a horrible and eye-opening documentary about how they kill these girls. I will spare you the gory details but the women that were interviewed in the documentary spoke with no remorse about the multiple baby girls that had been buried in their backyards. It wasn't an option to keep those girl children. Only a boy life would have value. No emotion in their voices or in their faces. Just sharing the facts.
With this in mind, I just read the saddest Facebook status update from one of my friends here in India. It reads, "I learned another crazy sad thing today....a friend's driver is expecting his 4th child any day and is hoping for a girl. I had always been perplexed by this wish as so many baby girls are killed here, but today I really learned why. His brother and wife have been unable to have a child and if he has a boy... he will give it to his brother after 6 months of nursing/raising it. And what is more amazing is they will never tell the child of this switch...never! I was at a loss of words other than to commend him for a true gift of love, but I am still thinking this is a CRAZY tradition."
Oh man! I can't stop crying! That is the saddest, sweetest, awful, terrible, wonderful and confusing thing I've ever read. How sweet is this man? He wants a girl knowing that if it is a girl that his brother wouldn't want the girl so he will get to keep his baby. If it is a boy - He will sacrificially give his son away. Arghhhhh! Be still my heart. What an unfathomable gift he is willing to give his brother. Blows my mind and then! I start to think about how much Jesus loved me....That he gave His ONLY son....not his FOURTH child but His ONLY son to die on a cross for me. For my sins. For all the ugliness I've ever done in my life....He loved ME....SO MUCH that He gave away His ONLY son! Bahahaha! I CAN'T STOP BAWLING!!! Amazing, humbling and undeserved...LOVE!!!
It's such a familiar verse in the Bible but John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but will have everlasting life." Wow! WOW! W O W! I mean, seriously!? Does it get any better than that?! What a gift from my Heavenly Father! And what a gift this sweet and unselfish Indian man is willing to give his brother!
I don't know if India will ever change her thoughts on the "Girl Child" but certainly those of us that have been blessed with children know that a boy or a girl....Man, those little suckers are a Gift from Above and I wouldn't swap my girls for boys or vice versa....Amazing Gift to be a Mom and I think that's what I'm going to dwell on this Valentine's Day....all the love in my heart for my children! Blessed. xo Happy Valentine's Day xo
Sometimes you see some pretty crazy stuff here in India. Unfortunately, sometimes you start to get used to it. One of the terrible realities of India (that I will NEVER get used to) is the plight of many unborn girl babies in India. It is a well known fact - You see it on billboards and in the news - Families kill girl babies when they are born simply because they are GIRLS! The families view them as a burden. As the daughter reaches marrying age (which here could be as young as 13!) the family will be required to have a dowry in order to make their daughter's value more appealing to a young man's family. The dowry is a great stress on many families and they simply don't see any other way but to "get rid of" the girl when she is a baby
I have seen a horrible and eye-opening documentary about how they kill these girls. I will spare you the gory details but the women that were interviewed in the documentary spoke with no remorse about the multiple baby girls that had been buried in their backyards. It wasn't an option to keep those girl children. Only a boy life would have value. No emotion in their voices or in their faces. Just sharing the facts.
With this in mind, I just read the saddest Facebook status update from one of my friends here in India. It reads, "I learned another crazy sad thing today....a friend's driver is expecting his 4th child any day and is hoping for a girl. I had always been perplexed by this wish as so many baby girls are killed here, but today I really learned why. His brother and wife have been unable to have a child and if he has a boy... he will give it to his brother after 6 months of nursing/raising it. And what is more amazing is they will never tell the child of this switch...never! I was at a loss of words other than to commend him for a true gift of love, but I am still thinking this is a CRAZY tradition."
Oh man! I can't stop crying! That is the saddest, sweetest, awful, terrible, wonderful and confusing thing I've ever read. How sweet is this man? He wants a girl knowing that if it is a girl that his brother wouldn't want the girl so he will get to keep his baby. If it is a boy - He will sacrificially give his son away. Arghhhhh! Be still my heart. What an unfathomable gift he is willing to give his brother. Blows my mind and then! I start to think about how much Jesus loved me....That he gave His ONLY son....not his FOURTH child but His ONLY son to die on a cross for me. For my sins. For all the ugliness I've ever done in my life....He loved ME....SO MUCH that He gave away His ONLY son! Bahahaha! I CAN'T STOP BAWLING!!! Amazing, humbling and undeserved...LOVE!!!
It's such a familiar verse in the Bible but John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but will have everlasting life." Wow! WOW! W O W! I mean, seriously!? Does it get any better than that?! What a gift from my Heavenly Father! And what a gift this sweet and unselfish Indian man is willing to give his brother!
I don't know if India will ever change her thoughts on the "Girl Child" but certainly those of us that have been blessed with children know that a boy or a girl....Man, those little suckers are a Gift from Above and I wouldn't swap my girls for boys or vice versa....Amazing Gift to be a Mom and I think that's what I'm going to dwell on this Valentine's Day....all the love in my heart for my children! Blessed. xo Happy Valentine's Day xo
Oh Jen, we should have had a coffee with a little something in it this morning! When Mudhan was telling me all about this, I couldn't contain my questions and just kept looking at Trish with shock!!!! She was speechless and I kept on rolling with the questions! I didn't want to sound judgmental, so I tried to compliment him on this extraordinary gift, while at the same time I was thinking I am not sure I would ever be able to do the same. Amazing that you took it to the next level to think of what God did for us. Makes this unbelievable tradition not quite as crazy (but sure does explain why every other person has 12 toes and 11 fingers! This is what happens when you end up marrying your "cousin" who is really your sister!)
ReplyDeleteBeautifully heart wrenching post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Sometimes living in the comforts of America we loose sight of what is happening in this world! China they leave their baby on the corners of the street....what's worse is these countries could be helping so many families in America - Americans would adopt these babies in a heart beat! We are fostering and this is a whole new world of hurt and messed up lives. We pray for our baby girl we have every day!!
ReplyDelete