Ever since I heard your
interview with Abby Johnson
, I've been haunted. You read the opening chapter, and I froze in place. Your voice could have been that of the baby being aborted, had the precious child been given a chance to have a voice. It was the most "real" thing I've heard broadcasted about abortion. I caught my breath, then turned around and looked across my kitchen at my precious daughters, and began to quietly weep. That night, I told my husband about it. He understood. I ended my day in prayers that didn't ask God for one thing. All I said was THANK YOU.
I am writing you today to ask you to never stop beating the drum against abortion. I recently heard that January is "sanctity of life" month. People say that phrase, but in my home, we live it every day of our lives. You see, those precious daughters I stared at across my kitchen while you read Abby's book are great blessing bestowed upon my husband and me. Early in marriage, we learned we were infertile. Some marriages are devastated by infertility. But my husband and I believe it was the BEST thing that could have happened to our marriage. Not only did we get the gift of one another to share and explore life with, we got the gift of adopting two beautiful children.
We are fortunate to know a lot about our children's biological roots. Tragic circumstances, seeped in lifetimes of tragic choices. But when they found out they were pregnant, our girls' birth moms made a choice to give their babies life, and allow us to adopt them. You'd be hard-pressed to find many people in today's society who would recommend anything EXCEPT abortion to these women. Many would say that the best choice for these women would be to abort their babies, and bring two less "problems" to society. Yet they chose life.
Like many moms, I excitedly brought my babies home from the hospital when they were newborns. But my babies traveled lovingly through someone else's arms first. I remember holding my babies close, breathing them in, feeling and seeing the sanctity of life. Sometimes I would imagine somebody hurting, aborting, these precious girls, and the thought actually stopped me from breathing. When they're newborn, it's not hard to imagine their lives in utero. My husband and I have celebrated more than a few happy tears of thanksgiving that they are ALIVE and they are our family.
It's interesting that I chose today to write this to you. We live in a wintry climate, and the whole house just came down with strep throat. Yet you know what? It was not an altogether bad day! I got to take care of my children. I was sick with strep myself, but who cares? I held my kids in my arms, fed them popsicles, loved them through cranky feverish moments. And there's nowhere else I'd rather be.
Defining sanctity of life polarizes people. But they need to understand its about babies, people, marriage, families. That needs to be made more real, and Abby's book does that. YOU do that. Please, never ever stop.
D.
