Choice

Each pregnancy or birth announcement that I see, whether it be from unwed mothers or happily married couples, brings immense pain while I continue to wait for the time when we will announce the coming of our own child. Daily I struggle with feelings of envy, and I regret to admit that many times I have griped over how unfair life is when they can have children but we can't.
Do you know what hurts even more than these announcements, though?
The knowledge that thousands of perfect, innocent lives are being taken daily, almost without a thought; lives that could potentially change the world for the better, despite the circumstances of their conception.
Having lost two of my own babies through no choice of my own, and watching friends struggle to conceive or to maintain the health of their own children, my heart breaks to know that men & women are giving and taking life at will. Too many couples are fighting to create and keep life while others are casting it aside like a soiled diaper. The selfishness of that idea and the fact that those who go through with it most likely do not recognize how guilty they are (or lost any ability to feel remorse long ago) brings angry tears to my face and a searing pain to my chest. I do not and never will understand how people on this earth can act in such despicable, inhumane ways.
Yet, as I watch society encouraging the murder of helpless babies, I thank the Lord for those around me who are choosing to have children and keep them, as difficult as it can be for me to accept their happiness. Even to the young mothers who are in avoidable situations, I applaud you for your choice to allow your baby to live and thrive, with you or with another family. I thank Him also that I have been taught to value life. I am grateful for my parents and their choice to raise me, along with my nine siblings. Things have been so very hard for them throughout their marriage and yet they have chosen each time to give their children a chance at being a living, breathing, learning, growing person. They taught me of how sacred & miraculous the power to create life is. They taught me that each of us are truly miracles, and that we have absolutely no right to steal that miraculous experience from any child of God.
I plead to any out there who are considering "ridding their bodies" of the consequences of their or someone else's sins. There are other ways, ways that include life, repentance, and healing. Find other women who have chosen to offer their children better lives, rather than ending them before they can even open their eyes and see your face. Contact an adoption agency, find a couple in your life who would cherish your baby, earn the funds to raise the child yourself, do everything in your power to keep that life. Please, do not think so little of the miracle of life as to deny your own child an opportunity that your parents gave to you freely.  Give them a chance.

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