The "choice."

Over the past 24 hours, a picture circulating the internet has just completely shaken me to the core.  I'm sure you have seen it.   A group of legislators and prominent citizens beaming as they sign into law a decree that will allow babies...BABIES...to be murdered up until birth (and, in some cases post-birth in the case of botched abortions).    The looks on their faces look like children opening surprise packages on Christmas morning.   They look so proud of their "victory" for "women's rights.   While it disgusts me to the extreme, I can't help but go back to that picture over and over to see if I am "missing" something.    I can't even fathom what those people must be thinking to think this is acceptable in the sight of God, or even of man!   I hear them championing how progressive their state is in being proactive about taking care of their women.   I hear them shouting from the rooftops that they will not be "victims" if the landmark Roe v. Wade case is ever overturned.  I hear them boasting of their joyous decision to legalize murder, and I just can't even comprehend it.   It seems so far beyond wicked that I don't even have words for it. 

A little over 40 years ago, a woman and her husband were expecting their second child.   Doctors warned them that the pregnancy would be difficult and the baby likely would not survive.    If he did, he would live out his (probably short) life as a vegetable.  They encouraged the couple to do the "merciful" thing and terminate the pregnancy.  However, they bravely accepted the challenge of the pregnancy and decided to carry that precious baby for however long they were blessed with his presence.  When the time came for him to be born, he weighed less than 4 lbs.   His father was rushed to the room and told that if he wanted to ever see him alive, it had to be now.   Throughout the evening, "code" alarms sounded throughout the hospital for him, yet that baby was a fighter.  He made it through that night.  And the next.   And the next.    The doctors were astonished that they had been so wrong. 

That "little boy" who had survived those terrifying nights defied all odds.  He graduated near the top of his class in high school.  He played sports, performed in plays, pursued a teaching degree,  graduated with a stellar GPA, served the Lord faithfully in his home congregation (and his "school" congregation).  He was a manager at a local fast food restaurant.     In 1999, he stood determinedly against the crowd and let his light shine so brightly that a young lady searching for the truth saw it and followed it.   Later that year, she obeyed the gospel, in large part due to his influence.    In 2001, they married and began serving the Lord together as a family.     He took a teaching job at a local public school, and they began to build their life together. 

2005 saw the birth of his own daughter.   2008, the birth of his own son.    He is now head of his department at school, a director of a Bible camp for the Lord's church, a deacon and Bible teacher in his local congregation, a husband who is unquestionably faithful to his wife, and a father who strives daily to lead his little ones to heaven.   In 2019, he and his wife will celebrate 18 years of marriage. 

This little boy could have been championed as a "choice."  He could have been one of the millions of babies slaughtered in the "safety" of their mother's womb.   His mother could have found "victory" in her "women's rights."   That little boy would have been safe in the arms of Jesus before he ever drew his first breath.   But the world would have missed out on so much. The kingdom would have missed out on so much.    I would have missed out on so much and would likely not even be a Christian.  My children would not be here.   Because, you see, that "choice" is my husband.    I am so thankful for the fortitude and faithfulness of my in-laws for recognizing that that "choice" had already been made for them when God entrusted them with the sweet precious soul of my husband.  When they were CHOSEN to be his parents, there was no other CHOICE in the matter.  You see, we don't have the right to CHOOSE who lives and who dies.   We don't "give" life, and we certainly don't have the right to take it away.  That right belongs exclusively to the Lord.    Our bodies are not our own, and neither are those growing innocently within.   My prayer is that we, as a world, will wake up and see what we are doing to ourselves.    My prayer is also that we, as the church, will speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.    I also thank God daily that my husband, that "choice," chooses daily to put the Lord first in all that He does, just as his parents did 4 decades ago.   May we all CHOOSE to do the same.