Posted by: s2sheathertabers on: January 23, 2012
Today is the annual March For Life in Washington, DC… an event that I’ve participated in a number of times. The March provides an opportunity for Christians like you and me to stand together and show our nation’s leaders and decision-makers that it is unacceptable to kill an unborn child. It’s one day a year in which the voiceless innocent can be heard. It’s about standing in the gap. It’s about defending life. It’s about miracles.
I grew up in a Baptist church and was part of a youth group that was taught the sanctity of human life. I knew at a young age that abortion was wrong and as a teenager I was vocal about God’s love for all babies – born and unborn. I never expected that at the young age of 21 I would find myself right in the middle of the biggest choice I would ever have to make – life or death for me and my unborn child. I was married and expecting my first child and excited about our future. A fatal disease was not part of my plan. Being told that I only had a 50% chance of surviving (and that was only if I aborted my child) was not part of the life I’d dreamed about. Saving my life or my baby’s was not a choice I wanted to make, but it was a choice I was faced with. It was a choice I made unwaveringly, having been so rooted in God’s truth. Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” God makes it clear. The choice is ours.
I chose to trust God that day. I chose to carry a child that the best perinatologist in St Louis swore would kill me. I chose to believe God had a plan. I chose life. And God showed up. God kept His Word. God delivered with huge blessings. God removed my life-ending disease. God spared my life and my daughter’s. God gave me the most beautiful, perfect, healthy, red-headed baby girl the world has ever seen. God even gave me four short, easy hours of delivery! God gave us life.
We named that little girl “Miracle.” Her birth story is published in a book with others like hers in the hope of encouraging other women to chose life when faced with similar, frightening circumstances. I’ve had the opportunity to share her story with Congressmen and young girls facing unplanned pregnancies. Her life brings hope to many. Her name opens up doors of opportunities to share Christ with others. Her life is a testimony of God’s goodness. Her legacy will be a legacy of life.
“Choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
The command is clear. The choice is easy. Trust God. Choose Life.
