Small Light in a Dark World

Today is set aside as sanctity of human life Sunday and as I sat this morning listening to my husband preach on the value of life I reflected on the many events in my life that have led me to hold the deep conviction that all human life from conception to natural death has value and is precious to God.

I thought of my mom. Of any person in the world she had by far the biggest impact in my life in teaching me to value all life. I watched as she suffered through the discomfort of many pregnancies. She was not one of those ladies who had a lot of kids because pregnancy was easy. She greatly disliked being pregnant but she loved life and God allowed her to give birth to seven children. I watched her suffer through cancer treatments. I stood by her bed and watched her suffering come to an end as her life here on earth ended and she entered the splendor of heaven. Through her life and death she taught me so many lessons about the value of life and helped me to see all life as a precious gift from God.

As the sermon continued my mind jumped to the cold January day 7 years ago laying on an ultrasound table and learning the precious baby in my belly was no longer alive. From the moment we learned I was expecting we thanked God for this new life and Scott and I looked forward to being parents. We grieved the loss of our child but we thanked God for the short time we had. I was reminded once again of how precious and valuable life is. 

I then looked down to the child I was holding in my arms, our precious boy James. For those who may not know James is autistic. He has many amazing strengths but also struggles with many things. A few months ago we sat down with some specialists to discuss some ideas for therapy and goals to help James. One of the questions that was asked of Scott and me was to think long term of what our biggest goals and dreams are for James. Scott responded, "Our greatest desire for James is for him to love God and serve Him with his life."  As parents we of course hope that one day James will be able to live independently, support himself, get married, raise a family etc. but those are all secondary goals and desires. James' life has value regardless of what he is able to accomplish. Watching his struggles and victories has taught us so much about the value of all life.

As I have been typing this I feel the occasional twitches of movement inside my womb. It never ceases to be an amazing thing to have a human life being knit together within my body. The baby growing inside me has been made in the image of God and is a precious gift to be cherished.  

We live in country where mothers can legally choose to kill their unborn babies, the foster care system is full of children who have suffered terrible abuse and neglect, those with disabilities are mocked and seen as a drain on society, the old are often left to languish alone in nursing homes.

But in a dark room a small light can make a big difference!