Even if...

Grace is in a special place in her life, one that I treasured with both Joshua and Christianne, the place where she is getting confident in her reading skills and moving up in her ability, the time in her life where she reads everything in sight, from cereal boxes to traffic signs to my BSF lesson - and hungers for more.  She gets a book bag from school every week of "Just Right" books, but to be honest, these are read quickly and without challenge.  It doesn't seem to bother her, but she does enjoy the challenge of beginning chapter books and other things (MY things, ha).

One of the highlights of the past couple of weeks for me was last Friday.  For once we were prepared for LifeGroup early, rather than mopping at the last minute or rushing to finish the food... everything was ready and I had nothing to do.  Grace was nipping at my toes for attention.  I wanted to just rest.  My Bible was nearby and I remembered that the couple of times I had tried to read a particular Psalm recently, I had been interrupted and distracted, and I had an idea.

So stretched out on the living room floor in front of the fire with my eyes closed, I listened as Grace read to me the entire 33rd Psalm, stumbling over only a word here and there.

How beautiful is that?

I sat in wonder, listening to her read God's Word... thinking... what *if* I *had* been a naive woman when I went to that early pregnancy appointment and was advised to terminate her?  What would I be missing right now?  What would the world be missing right now? 

Even if... even if you believe that babies with disabilites should be aborted as I mentioned in my previous post... even if you believe that... if I had believed that and had taken the advice of my medical professional... I would have taken the life of a perfectly healthy child.  A beautiful, loving, God-worshipping little girl. 

That scares the heck out of me.

So 90% of purported Down syndrome fetuses are aborted - which to me is nauseating... but even if you are okay with that... how many of those chidlren never really had Downs in the first place?  Have we terminated the lives of children who may have discovered the cure for cancer?  Who may have led the world in a movement of revival?  Who may have... what? 

Of course God is sovereign and if He wants us to find the cure for cancer, the cure for cancer will be found (and I hope and pray that He does and it is), regardless of the abortion epidemic we face.  Yet still, wouldn't it be an interesting (for lack of a better word) judgment upon us for killing the innocent that we don't have these advances or people in our culture, because of the blood that is on our hands?

I don't know.  I just know that right now, a mere couple of weeks before the next Presidential election, I am tired of the speeches, I am tired of the commercials, and I am tired of the debates.  Yes, the economy is important.  Foreign policy is important.  Health care is important.  But to me, nothing is as important as life, so I vote based on that one issue - life.

I've been pro-life as long as I can remember, but since my pregnancy with Grace, I think my stance has strengthened.  When I look at her and think of the pride of science telling me she doesn't have the right to live - when their arrogance in my case was clearly wrong.  Even if their science was correct and Grace did have Downs, would she be any less special to us, to God, to the world?  She may not be reading chapters of Scripture to me, she may not be breaking boards in taekwondo, she may not live a long and healthy life - but I know she would have the same sweet soul who loves the Lord and loves people. 

And what has more value than that?