Peace in the Middle East?  Yeah right, that's just about as likely as me finding peace throughout the rest of this pregnancy.  Ok, so you think that its a stretch to compare the turmoil that has been burning in the fertile crescent for thousands of years to the miserable last week of  pregnancy?

Well, let me enlighten you.  All of the violence and hatred in the Middle East can be traced back to one incident, a simple act of intimacy.  If you don't know the story, Abraham and his wife Sarah wanted children.  In an act of desperation, Sarah offered up her maidservant as a vessel for a child to be born.  So, Abraham lay with the maidservant, and nine months later a son was born.  This brought about many negative emotions from Sarah (duh), and God proclaimed that the son would "live in hostility toward all his brothers." Gen 16:12

Well, the descendants of that son, Ishmael, are the Muslims.  The descendants of Abraham's promised child, Isaac are the Jews.  So, in one act of intimacy, years of fighting among the two groups were caused.  Can you know see how the last weeks of pregnancy, caused by one act of intimacy can be compared to the Middle East?

No, there are no suicide bombers in my home.  But, I might consider a kitchen knife cesarean if this baby doesn't come soon.  That could be considered suicide!   Then I would be a martyr, and my husband could place pictures of me all over our home, and my children would worship me and desire to be just like me when they grow up. 

You see, it is a war.  Me against this stubborn new child.  He says he isn't ready and I say he is.  No, there aren't RPGs (rocket propelled grenades), but I have much worse...severe Edema (otherwise known as swelling).  My ankles and feet are so large that even combat-issue size 12s wouldn't fit my water-retained knubs. 

Instead of biological weapons, we have heartburn and its antidote, TUMS.  I launch those bad-boys into my stomach at lightening speed, at least twelve times a day (almost as many times as the Muslims pray towards Mecca.)

In conclusion, instead of praying for world peace, you'd be much better served (as would I) to pray for quick birth of this baby.  Otherwise, our home just might start to look like the Gaza strip.