I am not just "Anna's sister". I am not just " Michael's daughter". I am not just "Ethan's girlfriend." I am who I am. I am Abby. I am me.

A lot of the time I find myself trying to hide behind these titles. I rarely allow myself to be simply me. This comes from a series of different feelings... Fear of being alone, insecurity... And maybe you're just like me. Well, today God has allowed me to realize that this is not right. I need to stop cowering away in the shadows of the world, step out into the spotlight, and just be me! God has also lead me to share that with you, and I pray that it was exactly what one of you needed to hear today. You are worth it! You are good enough! You. Are. You. And you are amazing, beautiful, and worth every second of God's time. I hope you let that sink into your heart. You. Are. Worth. It. God loves you and He doesn't make trash (no matter how many trash jokes you make about yourself!). I love you and I also believe that you are worth it or else I wouldn't be taking time out of my day to say all of this to you. I wouldn't have started this book. I wouldn't be here at all if I didn't care. I hope you don't just take these words and throw them out the window. Take them. Believe them. Use them.

You are worth it all.

Did you know that I have a special notebook dedicated to kinds words and encouragement that I get from you lovely Wattpaders? I get so much and it makes me incredibly joyful, but not just for my own sake but for God's. By your words I know that I am doing good service for my King and that's all I ever wish for.

Sorry, I just started blabbing. Onto today's subject!!!

- 🔶 - 🔶 - 🔶 -

Remember our little discussion over euthanasia? Well, I FINALLY got my essay back from my English teacher (scored a 100% WOOT WOOT! SO HAPPY AND PROUD!!), so I thought I would share it with you guys!

Feel free to tell me what you think, if you agree or disagree with one of the points made, all that stuffs! I'm thrilled to see how this turns out! :D

The Case Against Legalizing Euthanasia (in America)

If the world was comprised of a single, shared religion, the case against euthanasia would be simple. God directly told us in the sixth commandment, "thou shalt not kill." Unfortunately, the world was not made that way. Instead, it consists of over seven billion individuals with morals and beliefs unique to each. Some stand firm on the belief that they have the personal right to decide the time, manner, and place of their death while others believe that the matter of life and death is not in their hands but God's. However, even with these varied standards, a valid argument against the acceptance and legalization of euthanasia can still be found.

No matter which stance is chosen, legalizing euthanasia would have many long lasting effects on society, and the majority of them would be negative. One point that is highly discussed in the community is the impact that it would have on medicine. For example, if euthanasia, also known as mercy killing, had been legal fifty years ago, there would not have been as much progress in medicine or life support systems today. If it were to be accepted now, it could be delaying research and the discovery of new life-sustaining treatments for decades, disabling future generations from having the privilege and joy of living life to its fullest extent.

Alongside this decrease of progress in the medical field comes an increase in regular, non-assisted suicides. Allowing ill and depressed patients to voluntarily take their own lives is openly displaying the toxic message that suicide is okay and is giving other suicidal people the incentive to end their lives. But what is the difference? Why does one feel better about killing a person, a living soul, when someone in a white coat does it? As John Grondelski quoted in his book review, Death Talk: The Case Against Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide, 2nd Edition, "Verbicide precedes homicide" (1). The entirety of euthanasia twists society's view on the meaning and value of human life, civil rights, and murder. Yes, America is the land of the free, but it is also a constitutional federal republic, meaning that its laws are established by the written words of the country's Constitution. As MD and US senator Tom Coburn said in 1999, "The Declaration of Independence says that we should have the right to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nothing in it says we have the right to pursue death, nothing" (ProCon Central 1). People will cease to believe this or have any strong feelings if the practice of euthanasia becomes legal and widely accepted across the globe.

Another complication with legalizing euthanasia is the fact that abuse cannot be prevented. "If euthanasia was legalized, it would open the floodgates for a rash of mercy killing" (Easton 2). It is nearly impossible to establish guidelines strict enough to limit the use of euthanasia to the people it was intentionally provided for, and even if it was not so difficult, the rules would eventually be set aside for certain, individual circumstances which is already taking place today. Originally, euthanasia was only available to dying adults with unrelievable suffering or who are terminally ill, who repeatedly request euthanasia to be done, but recently the protocol has been stretched to include deformed or unwanted newborn babies and even minor adolescents. If it continues to stretch, soon anyone will be able to have it done without a valid reason.

According to the Health Research Funding organization, 9% of all deaths in the Netherlands in 1990 were the result of physician-assisted suicide. However, of that 9%, 61% were completely unaware that they were being euthanized, proving that not only patients can abuse it, but doctors as well (2). Euthanasia doctors tend to be bitter and uninterested in palliative or hospice care and find it easier to administer euthanasia than to take the time to care for terminally ill and awkward patients. With the sick patients being depressed, vulnerable, and fearful of their potential future, their judgement may be severely impaired, and many doctors will find it easy to persuade them into making the decision of ending their life. In the mid-1990's when euthanasia was first legalized in the Netherlands, roughly ten thousand citizens of the area began carrying a "Do Not Euthanize Me" card on them at all times in case of an unexpected accident in which they would be taken to the hospital — a place where they feared they would no longer be the subject of medical actions, but the object of them.

"Euthanasia converts the mystery of death to the problem of death" (Somerville, Margaret A. 2). With the option of euthanasia at hand, the "right to die" can become a duty to die, as sick people can be made to feel like a burden on their families with hospital bills piled high and the feeling of guilt the family gets when they are unable to be present and properly care for the person. Even though tending for an ill loved one at the brink of death can be a rough road to travel, many beautiful things are likely to come from it. On their death bed, they could inspire another hurting person or see the mending of broken relationships and rediscovery of mutual love. Another aspect to be considered is that they could have also been mistakenly given a false diagnosis or have unrealistic fears of possible future pain due to their state of depression or as a side effect of a certain medication, but euthanasia prevents them from ever knowing and closes the door to opportunities of finding meaning and happiness in the game called life. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek language and means gentle and easy death, but in reality there is not a single type of death in the world that is to be considered gentle. The entire concept of death is mysterious and brutal, but our heroes are not those who have given up but those who have suffered and persevered.

The "right to die" also implies a duty to kill, meaning that a doctor or physician would be in charge of administering a lethal injection into another human being's system with the intent of ending life. In other words, he or she is committing homicide, which is and always will be a crime and a sin. However, as the Health Research Funding organization reported in 2014, laws in pro-euthanasia countries and states regarding euthanasia do not require a witness to be present when the injection is being administered (2). This would potentially cause an even greater loss of trust in doctors, physicians, and to some even medicine. Euthanasia could also twist to be the government's economic way of "treating" ill patients. The government can make money by killing people who want to die but not by ones suffering a disease, thus saving money on healthcare programs and funding. Is euthanasia efficient for the economy? Possibly, but is it beneficial to the society? Not at all, as it could easily result in an overall decline in care for the terminally ill patients.

With all of these things set aside, religion is the biggest argument against euthanasia that will ever be found. To begin, there are the Buddhists. Like in all religions, the teachings of Buddha do not specifically deal with euthanasia, but it is still clear that the Buddhists are against it and all suicide in general. Their religion places a great amount of stress on having a non-harm society because according to Buddha, the way that a life ends has a profound impact on the way that the new life begins. Similarly, the Hindus believe that a doctor should never accept a patient's request to die because it will cause the soul and the body to be separated at an unnatural time, resulting in the damage of the karma of both the doctor and the patient. Karma, in both of these religions, is what determines how the soul's next life will be.

The most widely known when it comes to standing out against euthanizing patients are the Christians, most prominently the Roman Catholics. They strongly emphasize the importance of not interfering with the natural process of death because God has authority over all life: he alone will decide when to put people on the earth and when to remove them from it, just as the Muslims feel with their believed creator Allah. As it is written in the Islamic holy text, Quran, "...and if their term has come, they will not remain behind, nor will they precede it" (Qur'an 16:61). Other major religions, such as Judaism and Sikhism, also have very similar views, and although none of these religions give specific details and answers to such a modern issue as euthanasia, they all set down general principles and guidelines against the harm of the sanctity of life. Each of them can all be broken down to these few conclusions: the time of life and death is not decided by humankind, murder in any form is wrong, one should always prefer the way of life over the way of death, and not a single person — young or old, healthy or sick — has the right to value their life as worthless.

There is nothing new about terminal illness, suffering, wanting to die, or the doctor's ability to kill a patient, so why now, after prohibiting all cases of euthanasia for over a thousand years, is the world bent in half over whether or not to legalize it? Unfortunately, there have already been some countries to accept and legalize euthanasia, though they seem to have failed to clearly see their future under the side effects of legalizing it. It weakens medical research, puts mounds of pressure on the ill patients and their families, and is up against most religious morals, along with the medical ethics and the doctor's duties to sustain and improve the life of the sick to the best of their abilities. Euthanasia produces more harm to the society than good, therefore should not be legalized.

- - - - -

Tell me what ya think! (Not of my writing but the topic and the points made) :D

PRAYER REQUESTS:
-my niece... today she had a terrible fever over 103 (she wouldn't stay still so we had to take the thermometer away before it was finished getting her temperature, but when we took it away it was at  103and still going up) and all day she's being saying ow ow, so we think she might have an ear infection or her throat hurts. She's not even two years old yet, so please keep her in your prayers.

-a man at my church... his mother passed away this morning. Please pray for peace and comfort in that family.

-me... my back has been killing me! About two months ago I let my sister's fiancé pop my back (he always does a great job of it) and ever since then it's been hurting off and on extremely badly. The doctor said everything looks fine and that it's probably just "inflammation on the lining of my lungs because I've had a cold lately" (I don't think the doctor is right because I got the cold AFTER my back started hurting AND it starting hurting the day that he popped my back). Something is just out of place, I guess, so we're going to see a chiropractor soon. Hopefully  can get me back into shape! God knows what's wrong and I believe He can heal it all!

...If you have any prayer requests please make them known!! We will ALL pray with you and for you!!

I love you all so much! Thank you for all of the support and love! Have a wonderful, wonderful day!!

•BPL
🍌🍰💟