Tag: life

Why I’m Not Fighting to Save Babies: Guest Post by Susanne Maynes

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I’m honored to have writer and counselor Susanne Maynes with us here at Every Life Matters. Susanne has worked at a pregnancy resource center for eight years. Her heart for God and her service to women in crisis uniquely equips her to speak with us today.

 

I enter the room quietly, take my seat across from the nervous teen, and gently ask how she is feeling. Her eyes pool.

“Not so good. I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

Her story unfolds. Courtney (not her real name) hasn’t yet finished high school, let alone pursued her field of study and career of choice. Her dreams are at stake.

On top of that, her parents don’t approve of the boy. They will be disappointed and angry, she fears.

I’m facing a familiar scenario, one I’ve seen many times as a counselor at a pregnancy resource center. My job is to help this young woman understand her pregnancy options, offer her emotional and spiritual support, and help her take hold of hope for both herself and her baby.

Why do I do this?  Because I’m fighting to save babies, right?…or am I?

It’s true that the lives rescued by the pro-life movement are the lives of tiny unborn babies; it’s true that once those babies are born, we rejoice at their delightful, innocent, brand-new presence in the world.

But all cuteness and giggles and coos aside, I’m not really fighting to save the lives of babies. I’m fighting to save the lives of people.

Those infant boys and girls will grow into toddlers, grammar school kids, teens. They’ll be adults one day. We’ll see them on the job, in the grocery store, at church.

And when we see them, we might ask ourselves, When did the sacred value of their life begin?

From the first “stitch” that God knit together in the womb.

Psalm 139:13, 16 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

From his sovereign perspective, God sees every life from beginning to end.

At no point in the continuum is a person less than a person in his eyes.

I saw a comic a few years ago depicting two teen girls talking. The pregnant one tells her friend, “I think it’s a puppy!”

Therein lays the problem with thinking of the pro-life objective as “saving babies.”  The issue isn’t just rescuing darling little infants from being sucked out of this world; the issue is fighting for the fulfillment of human destinies.

As Dr. Ravi Zacharias eloquently explained at a conference I attended, God’s answer to human dilemmas is always found in a person. The Israelites needed the right man to lead them out of slavery in Egypt – thank God Moses’ mother was courageous enough to save his life during a time of mandatory male infanticide.

Later, God’s people needed deliverance from various oppressors, and God raised up judges to rescue them.

Ultimately, God’s solution for the biggest human dilemma ever came through the person of his very own son.

Dr. Zacharias wonders how many times we have begged and pleaded for help from God – and become offended at his apparent unconcern — when in reality, he had already sent the answer, and we destroyed that answer in the womb.

This is why I sit across from troubled women to help them take hold of hope. This is why I pray, my heart breaking, while they wrestle with their decisions.

Not just to save babies. To save people. People who are the apple of God’s eye and his answer to our problems.

Courtney decided against abortion. Her little boy will be born in a few weeks.

Who knows what kind of an answer he will be?

 

10989255_566024660204946_6084923594370626820_nSusanne Maynes is the Counseling Director at Life Choices Clinic, a pregnancy resource center where she has worked for eight years. She is a Board Certified Biblical Counselor with the Board of Christian and Pastoral Counselors. Susanne blogs weekly at www.susannemaynes.com to help sincere but discouraged Christians find healing, gain insight and take heart so they can live out their faith with courageous compassion.

What They Didn’t Tell Us

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Until our nineteen-year-old son broke his neck in a fall in the summer of 1997, we knew little about spinal cord injuries. His break was very high, and the chance of his survival was bleak. Since he was injured during a trip to Canada and we live in the United States, it was a difficult journey to join him at the hospital. When we were able to get to his bedside, we found him totally paralyzed from the neck down and attached to life support.

Grim-faced doctors told us the many challenges Kevin faced:

  • He would never breathe or move again below his neck or possibly his shoulders.
  • He would need round-the-clock care.
  • He would certainly suffer from a host of complications such as pneumonia, blood clots, and urinary tract infections.
  • He could never live at home again. He couldn’t even return to the United States because no airline would accept him in his condition, no doctor would sign to receive him, no medical team would accompany him on the flight, and the cost to fly him home would be prohibitive.
  • He could not stay in Canada.

For our son, and for us, the situation seemed hopeless. One doctor was angry when we resisted a push for euthanasia.

What most of the doctors didn’t tell us was that their predictions weren’t written in stone. Yes, Kevin did suffer from pneumonia in the beginning weeks. Urinary tract infections have been a continuing challenge for Kevin. And yes, he needs round-the-clock care.

But none of the rest of it happened.

People, churches, and organizations in Canada soon learned of his injuries and rallied to his cause. Within a week, Kevin was flown back to the United States in a chartered Lear jet, accompanied by a volunteer medical team – the entire cost paid by donations.

He was received into a hospital close to home and later released to a rehabilitation hospital.

As his body came out of spinal shock, he began to regain function and feeling, stunning the doctors and therapists. This healing would continue for several years.

What no one told us was that one day Kevin would breathe again on his own, walk with help, and return home to rebuild his life. Although he remains mostly disabled, he has movement and feeling in most of his body. He only uses the ventilator at night to sleep.

In the years since his injury, he has built a computer 3-D graphics studio with his brother and founded a popular Christian music website. He lives each day with faith and trust and without complaint.

No one told us that caring for him would bring us such joy. No one explained how much his life would enrich us, or how much we would learn about courage in the process. Certainly these years have been hard. But when I see Kevin laughing and chasing his nieces around in his wheelchair, or taking his dog for a walk, or working with press agents and music companies and complicated animation software, I am reminded of all the beauty they never told me to expect.

They never told us to have hope.

You are Invited

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If you’re reading this today, you’re alive.

Maybe you don’t feel that way.  Instead, you’re barely holding on. You feel numb, unworthy of God’s love.

It’s especially easy to feel that way if you’re one of the thousands of people suffering from chronic disease or devastating injury. Perhaps you’re one of the millions of people who care for them. Either way, you’ve forgotten what it’s like to have what most would call a “normal” life.

Boy, have I been there.

Our son’s spinal cord injury in 1997 plunged him into the world of disability and dumped me into the world of caregiving. I quickly learned that the fight for life is as primal as it gets.

It’s a lonely trip. It’s an honor. It’s a tightrope walk between the two stretched over a chasm of uncertainty.

Today I’ve served more than two decades as a caregiver. Every step of the journey, God has held us, even when I didn’t know He was there. His comfort has been the golden oil sustaining me through every trial. He has taught me to relish each day I can breathe and think and worship my Creator.

Rejoicing in the Lord always.

Trusting in a faithful Father for tomorrow.

Life is a gift, an invitation to a very special party. Let’s treasure what we have this moment and believe God will keep eternity safe for us, for the day when the lame walk and God dries our tear-stained faces.

That day’s coming. Until then, we will conquer whatever comes, together. No matter what you’re going through right now, you can be assured you are never, ever alone. You’re important to God, and you’re important to me.

You’re alive. You’re safe. You’re precious in His sight. 

That’s worth singing about. Come on, join the celebration!

The Battle for Renewal

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Then He showed a river of the water of life, clear as crystal,
coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street.
On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kind of fruit, yielding its fruit every month;
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:1-2

Winter has never won the battle of the seasons, but this year it seemed to have its cold, gnarly fingers firmly clamped around the ground and my heart. The garden lay in dead disarray. My life followed a similar trend. Heartrending situations with my family and friends gripped us in an icy chill of  relentless drama and tragedy.

Faith ran daily to the window to look for signs of life on my horizon. It was usually met with gray skies and new storms. It seriously looked like spring itself had given up and taken off for a long southern vacation.

Then I began to notice that although the storms still buffeted us, spring seemed to have a change of heart and decided to show up, after all. It was still cold, and uninviting outside my window. I was delighted to discover that the daffodils had gotten the memo, though, along with the hyacinths.

Once it decided to commit to a change of seasons, spring braved the weather and cued the greenery. The cold raised a challenge with a blast of hail. Tender life, having gained new courage, marched forward to undaunted.

Every year, the battle for renewal rages in the earth. Each year, death appears to triumph over the promise of resurrection along with our dreams. We know, however, that life always wins.

Today it is gray and cold again here. But I can look out my window and see that spring is going to conquer. In fact, it already has. My garden is blooming.

There are still parts of my life which haven’t felt the sun’s warm rays. I tell my impatient heart that renewal is on its way. God encourages us to look not to the daily storms, but the inevitable thaw what will arrive.

Winter will end. Spring will come.

Rooted in Reality: Building Character, Part 1

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You will know them by their fruits.  
Matthew 7:16

Several years ago, the Dallas Morning News reported that an elderly North Dallas couple, the Davenports, were sitting at home one quiet evening, enjoying a delicious meal. As they finished up, a burglar broke into their house, pointed a gun at them, and demanded money.

While Mrs. Davenport frantically searched through her purse for some money, the burglar noticed that the television was on, so he asked Mr. Davenport what they were watching. Mr Davenport replied, “The 700 Club.”

“Are y’all Christians?” the burglar asked.

“Yes,” Mr. Davenport replied.

The burglar said in all seriousness, “Me, too.”

It’s easy to be more than a little cynical of this man’s profession of faith, because we know faith is supposed to go hand-in-hand with a lifestyle change. Jesus used the example of plants to help us understand this concept.

Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Matthew 7:16-18

The reality is this: It is our character, not our words alone, that reveals who we are to others. Character is who we really are. It’s the essence of our being. It is, as D.L. Moody said, “What you are in the dark.” Without character, we can only fool people for so long. Without character, we can’t fool God at all.

What’s so important about character?

     1. Character sets us apart.

In this day, age, and culture, people constantly strive to set themselves apart from the crowd. Some of us use shocking dress and behavior; some of us climb the rungs of the social ladder; some of us search for money and power. In reality, though, the lower elements of humanity are so prominent today it is the person of integrity and pure character that stands out from the rest. Deep inside, we long for someone to show us something real and solid and clean.

     2. Character creates trust.

Solid relationships have to be founded on trust. Trust is the oil that keeps society moving forward and reduces friction from personalities clashing.

     3. Character promotes excellence.

Excellence in behavior does more than promote the welfare of an individual. It is the glue that cements the higher ideals of families, the workplace, the political sphere, and nations into a cohesive unit.

    4. Character gives us staying power.

It carries us through the tough times, because the same self-discipline we need to cultivate integrity also keeps us going when we are weary and discouraged. Ironically, trials are also the very tools God uses to solidify our character.

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, 
knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 
and perseverance, proven character
and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts 
through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 
Romans 5:3-5 

Like a good piece of pottery, we are “hardened” by the fire of trial. Someone has said fire either destroys or hardens that which it touches. When we emerge from the fire of hardship and suffering with our faith intact, our character has been “proven.”

     5. Character extends our influence.

Everyone wants to have an influence on others. But without character, we are simply performing for others and competing to be noticed. If we want to have a lasting impact on others for good, it’s going to be the godly character we exhibit that will shout above the din.

So how do we cultivate godly character? Next week we’ll identify and discover how to implement L.I.E.S. in our search to live in integrity.

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