First We Meditate, Then We Go for Tea

India is synonymous with architecture & temples, spiritual journeying, curries & spices, beautiful textiles, and of course chai. There is so much more to India than these few things, but it cannot all be told in a short story. Even with writing a long, well-written report, full of spirit and heart, you might feel some of…

Meditation High – A Spiritual Being Having a Spiritual Experience

Meditation has meant quite a few things for me and subsequently my family. There isn’t a best reason for me to practice it, instead, there are many reasons why meditation is always the thing I need (when I do take the time to meditate). This is my experience in the last session led by a…

Female Genital Mutilation

Did you know that female genital mutilation (FGM) is reported to have been practiced in the US as recently as 2010? The United States of America is many things, good and bad, but I held the belief that the majority of the people who want to live in the US of A, are people who…

Ma’Hood: A Mother’s Story of Maternal Care

For the next two weeks a little organization named CleanBirth.org is making a huge difference in the lives of many people. In fact, it isn’t only now that it’s doing so. CleanBirth.org raises funds throughout the year to ensure that many pregnant women in Laos can have safe births through the use of clean-birth kits and properly…

I Love the Whole Pound of You

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is one of those places that are completely surreal to me. My son had to be in ICU for six days, and it was the first time I had been in this angel-filled part of a hospital. I saw signs showing how long a little…tiny little baby had been in…

My Son’s Miracle Heart

     It is the day before getting discharged from the hospital where my son was born. A RN nurse comes in, checks my boy with a sthetoscope, and says she hears a heart murmur. A doctor comes and dismisses it as a breathing pattern. Another RN comes, listens to my baby boy’s heart and says…