By Bryan Ridenour
Author’s Note: Bryan writes one of my favorite blogs to read. He is insightful and always inspires me. This post appeared on his blog this past week and I felt it was well worth sharing with you all. Bryan is a husband, father of four and a youth and children’s pastor in the heart of the Bible Belt.
Enjoy:
In the early spring of this year, my wife and I lost a baby. At 17 weeks of pregnancy, nurses listened for a heartbeat and found none. It’s possible our baby passed as early as the 15th week, but our loss discovered at the 17th week because of a scheduled appointment and check-up.
Two days after the miscarriage, we clasped hands and walked somberly into labor and delivery knowing this baby already rested in the arms of Jesus. The hospital staff
administered the kindest care and packaged a small take-home box, a memorial tribute to our little one. Nurses tucked a copy of baby’s footprints into a tiny cap. Barely the size of a nickel, these feet now run and skip in the Heavenly city.
Several of our teens recently viewed “October Baby.” Afterward, one of the girls posed the following question,
“Why do some people say abortion’s fine, because “it’s” not really a baby and others say their having a baby and are excited?”
A great question and observation.
I explained that organizations promoting abortion soften the controversial procedure by dubbing the growth a “clump of cells” or by using the impersonal term, “fetus.” However, God’s Word contradicts our culture’s ideology. Psalm 139:13-14 says,
“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;”
After swallowing a gathering lump in my throat, I promised the teens I’d share a picture of our little one’s feet and toes. These prints herald the truth,
“I am a human being, created in the image of God!”
And though I seldom reference Dr. Seuss books for theology, I can’t help but quote from “Horton Hears a Who”.
“A person’s a person, no matter how small”
