The Widows and Orphans, Abortion

My thoughts have trended toward the rights of children lately.   I had a horrible dream a few months ago about child sacrifice.  The people in my dream placed no value on the tiny infant…no more than an animal slaughtered for meat.  I was horrified, and woke up to snuggle with my own precious little baby.  Just recently, I had another terrible dream.  This time I had accompanied a woman to an abortion clinic, where she had a late term abortion.  The tiny baby was still alive, and they handed her to me.  As I stared at the tiny baby, I knew I couldn’t let her die.  They were going to finish killing the baby, but I took the baby and ran.  I was running to get her to a NICU so she could be saved.   The nurses and abortion doctor were chasing me to try to kill the infant.  I kept running until I came up to a parade.  Ironically, there was a group of pro-life activist motorcyclists in the parade.  So one biker gave me and the baby a ride to the hospital.   I woke up before we arrived.   Perhaps these dreams have arrived in light of my own concerns over MM’s health (she’s fine and healthy…but moms always worry a little), and also the media coverage of Planned Parenthood.  Maybe these dreams have also been coming because MM's personality and individuality are growing more distinct.  I frequently look at her in wonder that this rapidly changing little human being that started out as tiny little cells that grew...and grew!  Babies and children are truly amazing - fearfully and wonderfully made.

 I don’t often weigh in on issues like abortion because…quite frankly they confuse me.    What are a woman’s rights? What are the baby’s rights?   I’ve heard people ask me…how could I (or anyone) ask a woman to give up her body and raise a child she doesn’t want?  They say that child will be unloved and unwanted…and possibly enter foster care or be adopted.  What could be worse than children that are unloved and bounce in and out of foster care?  As a foster parent, we are that home, and we’ve met a ton of other people who also provide homes.   Almost all of the foster and adoptive parents we've met are amazing people.  They are warm, loving, and patient.  They pour their hearts and souls into “unwanted” children.   When we attend the local support group for other parents like us…I hear their anguish…their love and worry over these children.  As foster parents, we strive to teach children what a stable, loving home feels like.  We read them bible stories and pray for them.  At the same time, we often love and support their parents and try to encourage them to stick with the plan to get their children back..even when that means the child we love will leave us.   It’s so hard to both love the child and the struggling parents.  We love the children placed in our home like our own, and it crushes my soul when I say goodbye to send them home.  I remember all of their faces…all of their stories. 

So when someone asks me what I think about abortion, I reply that I am pro-choice.  I am striving to actually offer a choice to mothers.   Maybe I am wrong, but I don’t think most women get abortions because they feel they have a choice.  I think many of them feel like they don’t have a choice.  They feel that poverty or circumstance dictate they cannot care for their child…and they have no choice but to terminate a pregnancy.  

My approach is to try to inspire others to become adoptive parents…become foster parents.  Let’s give the world a real choice!  If enough homes opened their doors to truly love the “unwanted” children AND the mothers, what a difference we could make!  Yes…being a foster parent is hard, but being a parent at all is hard!  Parenthood in all its forms is such worthwhile endeavor.   It’s also something bible compels us to do (James 1:27 for example).   I will not be the one to cast stones.  I will not be the one sitting on the judgment seat.  Instead, I want to love mothers facing hard circumstances.  I want to open my home to their children so they feel they do have a choice.   

With all that being said...I do fear judgment.  Not man's judgment, but God's.   Will my nation, my friends, my family, me be judged for our apathy?  Will we get to God's judgment seat and be asked..."Why did you turn a blind eye to injustice? Why did you merely watch while children were killed? Why did you not love and care for the widows, the orphans, the single parents?"  That's not at all what I want to hear when I get to heaven...I want my God to say "Well done, good and faithful servant."  I really don't know what that means for me and what I'm called to do, but I know I'm not the Judge.  I will do what I can for children and families with love.  I will fight injustice and apathy with love, prayer, personal sacrifice, and elbow grease.

Peace and Love, y'all!