I Have A Say Thanks to My Mom and Dad!!!

Being the oldest of 11, I am so thankful, especially now, for my Mom and Dad saying "yes" to life! Growing up, we never had a ton of money. My Dad was a high school chemistry teacher and my parents decided from the beginning that they wanted to have one of them home with us. My mom gave up her teaching career, and raised me, followed by 10 others! My Mom also taught all 11 of us at home for part of our childhood before we would head off to Nativity Catholic Grade School. My Dad worked long hours, eventually earning other degrees so that he could first become dean, then principal, and finally, when I was a sophomore, he was named Roncalli High School's first president. My Dad and Mom both sacrificed SO MUCH for us.

I remember, even as a young person, getting stared at by people, and I remember the comments they would make. I can still hear a dental receptionist asking my Mom "Are these all yours? You know how children are made right?" followed by a real insidious but ditzy chuckle, followed by a secretarial gum crackle. My Mom and Dad were always tight budget wise, and I'm sure at times ached with a desire to not have to take bags of clothes from other families so that we could have clothes. I'm sure my Mom and Dad had desires to simply go to Nordstrom and buy us and give us all our own new clothes and Gameboys and Reebok Pumps etc. I'm sure they at times really wished they could just get a new car and not have to drive a fifteen passenger van around. I'm sure at times they wanted really badly to just go to a restaurant and sit back and enjoy a big expensive meal instead of having to cut coupons and craft together economic meals on the stove.

But they chose life for us, and they chose sacrifice for themselves.

I often think about that ditzy secretary now when our family gets together almost every weekend for dinner to laugh and hang out. Some of the siblings might be out of town or busy with other obligations, but inevitably, all weekend long, every weekend, our family gets together. Sometimes, when we're out at a restaraunt, I see the couples who are alone with each other. They hardly talk to each other and the loneliness is palpable. A part of me feels bad that we're having so much fun with our 8 tables shoved together, telling stories, laughing good hearty and healthy laughs. Sometimes I wonder if one of the couples sitting in the restaurant quietly and solemnly is that dental secretary - who now has piles of money and can eat wherever she wants, but doesn't have hardly anyone to share it with. My heart breaks for the people who are alone, especially the ones who are alone because, when they could have been having children, they instead bought into the contraception lie and lived for themselves only.

I have a say today, and so do my ten younger brothers and sisters, because my parents chose life. Mom and Dad - thanks a million!!!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Emily Lah's Mom Was Pregnant With Her on Her Wedding Day

I have a say because my parents choose life for me 32 years ago.  They were young and 3 months away from their big wedding day when my mom found out she was expecting a baby.  She could have chosen to save face and have the perfect wedding but instead she choose life.  That one choice has changed her life and the life of many others.  It was not easy for my parents to start a family so young and they had many struggles and trials.  They carried their crosses in away that changed my life forever.  I learned how to trust God with every cross that was mine to carry. 

If I would not have been born then...
~One less person would have helped the poor 20 hours a week for 2 years in my former college town
~One less person would have been a missionary in Haiti
~One less person would have chosen a career path to help low income families have decent and affordable housing
~One less person would give 10%+ of their income the Church and those in need of help
~One less person would have been there for a friend or neighbor in need a shoulder to cry on and a person to pray for them
~My husband would be single and still looking for his Soulmate
~Three beautiful girls who love God with their whole heart would not have been born


I have a say because EVERY LIFE has an IRREPLACEABLE ripple effect on the world.

God Bless,
Emily Lah

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