Image

Image

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Life

You know, one day my sons will be men.  One day they'll be the ones making tough decisions, leading the church, fathering the our grandchildren.  How on earth do we communicate to them how precious every human life is?

How do we keep their hearts tender to the value of every aged soul when we live in a culture that pushes the elderly into isolation?  How do we help them to celebrate every sweet babe no matter how many breaths he takes on this earth?

They've gotten more than their share of criticism, but what I will say for the Duggars is that they've given their children a precious gift by instilling in them a love for life.  A love for their elderly grandfather who died in their home on hospice care.  A love for their sweet little sister who consumed their family's world for months as she fought for breath.  A love for the sister they will never know who passed into eternity before taking a single breath.  A love for one another as they live each day serving and treating each other as valuable people, endowed with life by their Creator.

There's a lot in the media about how disgusting it is that the Duggars shared photos of their stillborn child's hands and feet.  Sigh.... How broken and twisted is a world that encourages p*rn*graphy and violent photography but cringes at a family's only opportunity to touch their child!  How do we treat a mother's loss so flippantly?   How can anyone look at this family in pain and judge them harshly?  How have we fallen so far?  So far from seeing life for the incredible gift that it is.

Teacher Man and I sat on the couch with tears in our eyes when we saw the pictures.  Hurting for their loss.  Saddened by the little life that never saw the sun but overjoyed knowing that she stands whole in the presence of the Son.  And angered by the evil response of the world.  Every child is a gift from God.  Every. child.

So we will continue to pray for friends who have lost children, for those who are losing loved ones, for the elderly in our midst in need of healing.  We'll reach out to them in practical ways and speak of them with honor and dignity.  We'll rejoice in them, our little men, our precious gifts, and love them with abandon.  Because each and every life is equally precious to God, from the 40-year-old successful businessman to the babe just conceived with no voice of its own. And we'll pray... pray that God will keep all our hearts soft and will give each of them a deep love for life. all life.  Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment