Marching Again

No, I didn’t go to the March for Life in D.C. I did that a couple of years ago and it was a great experience and hope to go again someday. Fact is though that it is expensive and is at least two days away from the wife and kids. So, what I did instead was participate in a little local March here in Holland, MI. Things got started at 7pm sharp (I assume it was sharp because I got there couple of minutes late and had to walk rather briskly to catch up) at a park downtown and went around the block. After the mini-march we filed into a Christian Reformed church across the street from the park for a brief period of song and prayer. There was also a brief testimonial from a woman who works as a pregnancy counselor for Bethany Christian Services, which is mostly known for its adoption work. She told us how when she was 21 she found herself with an unplanned pregnancy and came face-to-face with the difficulty of living out her pro-life convictions. With the support of her family though, she had the baby and gave him up for adoption…to her sister and her husband. Her son in now seventeen and doing very well indeed.

This story gets right to the heart of the pro-life movement. It is not about condemning those who have abortions (the culture that supports its legality yes, the women having them, no) but rather about reaching out and offering support to people in the support and affirmation of the sacredness of human life.

Sadly, on the way home, I was listening to NPR which found its own little way to commemorate the anniversary. They decided to do an interview with a nice, young, seemingly intelligent and thoughtful woman who had chosen to never have children. She had gone so far as to have ligation done to make sure that it simply never happens. Now, a whopping seven months later, she claims to have no regrets. Perhaps she doesn’t and perhaps she never will. But she will also never know what she is missing. And like all the big things in life, no one can really tell her either. You simply have to take the leap of faith and plunge in head first before you can truly realize the joys (and yes, frustrations) of parenthood. I encourage you to pray for this woman and her other “child-free” friends that they may be willing to see children not as a burden and an obstacle but rather as a blessing and joy. After all, at the end of the day, the vacations, TVs, cars and anonymous sex comes to an end. They all leave eventually and leave one feeling empty. But the smile of a child is forever. No, don’t rationalize it, live it.

This year’s anniversary of Roe vs. Wade is come and gone but next year will be here before we know it. Take some time to reflect on what you can do to support unborn children and their often desperate mothers with no where to turn. Donate time and/or money to a pregnancy center, pray, write your legislators, hold fundraisers and next year, find an event around the anniversary of Roe and go, and try to bring a friends or two while you’re at it.