Every day we have a choice to love . . .
Will we extend both truth and grace to others?
In 1981, my husband and I lost our second baby at four months
gestation—a perfectly-formed baby boy spanning the length of the obstetrician’s
hand. He called it a “spontaneous abortion.” We called him David Nathaniel.
I had no choice in the abortion. My body simply and horribly
rejected my child. I not only grieved over my loss, but for all the babies who
had been aborted by choice. And for all the mothers who had been duped into
thinking that their babies were merely globs of tissue, easily discarded.
In 1985, the unthinkable happened. I lost another baby, a
little girl—Allison Marie—again at four months gestation. My doctor determined
that my uterus, which is supposed to be shaped like a pear, is actually shaped
like a heart. David and Allison attached to the crook in the heart (a weak
place) and at a certain size automatically detached, inducing labor and
subsequent delivery.
Viewing my premature babies, complete with miniature
fingernails and tiny toes, gave me a greater appreciation for the sacredness of
life at every stage. Sadly, to date, over 50 million babies have died due to
abortion on demand. How God’s great heart must grieve over this senseless
slaughter of innocent lives. Psalm 139 details how a loving God carefully and
meticulously fashions each one of us in the womb, thinks about us day and
night, covers us with His hand, and numbers all our days. We are made in His
image. So, both pre-born babies and their
mothers are precious to God. To destroy a life He has created is to tamper with
His image. In the case of abortion, a baby’s physical life is destroyed and the
mother’s emotional, spiritual, and sometimes even physical well-being is
damaged.
Through my latest release, Laughing with Lily, I want women who’ve undergone abortion to know
that God loves them, just as deeply and completely as He loves their babies.
Through Christ, He wants to draw them close, forgive and heal them. The God who
created life delights in making something beautiful out of the ugly
circumstances of our lives. He can use human tragedy to draw us close and move
us into relationship with Him. No matter the guilt or grief we carry, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Wounded Healer, stands ready to cover us with His healing and
forgiveness (see Isaiah, chapter 53). And I desire women who haven’t
experienced an abortion to understand that we all stand in need of His healing in some area of our lives.
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