The world
says that a woman's freedom to make choices is one of her most valuable assets,
and if her ability to make choices is every stripped from her, then she is
reduced to no more than a slave or possession.
Has this viewpoint touched your family?
I am a
strong supporter of choices. As a mother
of seven girls, I am very mindful of their ability (or potential lack of
ability) to make choices. However, my
support for "choices" does not always stem from positive
motives. Too often it is rooted in
selfishness. Isn't it easy to demand
your way in the name of "I have a right to make my own choices"?
Maybe you
have not fallen into that trap, but I have.
It can be a difficult to balance teaching my daughters to value and use
their opportunities to make choices and teaching my daughters to put consideration
for others above their own needs or desires.
If they never do anything for themselves, they can lose touch of who
they are. If they never put the needs or
desires of others above their own, they will live shallow, unfulfilled
lives. Maintaining a balance can be a
struggle.
Yet, in
some situations, the right choice is not a difficult one to figure out, just
sometimes difficult to execute:
Your
daughter wants to sit in a certain chair at dinner. Should she be allowed to push to the floor
anyone in her way?
Your
daughter wants to eat "now" and not wait in line. Should she be allowed to confiscate another
diner's food and eat it?
Your
daughter wants the scholarship that will guarantee that she gets to go to the
college she thinks she "needs" to go to, but she only got the
runner-up position. Should she be allowed
to hire a hit man to get rid of the one standing in her way of what she wants?
Your
daughter is pregnant and does not want to take a detour in her plans to
accommodate a baby, not even long enough for him or her to be born and put up
for adoption. Should she be allowed to
hire a hit man to get rid of the young, pre-born baby standing in her way of
what she wants?
What does
the Bible say:
Psalm 139:13-16—"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; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made
in the secret place. When I was woven
together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in
your book before one of them came to be."
Although I
could list more verses that expound on the beauty and value of life, the
blessings of children, and God's sole sovereignty over the length of a person's
days, they will not increase the meaning of this beautiful passage.
Each life
is designed and handcrafted by God himself.
We can never escape his watchful eye, not even in the womb. God is a God of life.
Recently, I
participated in a Life Chain with part of my family along a bypass around a
park. It was not a controversial
setting. No signs had graphic displays
of abortion. Words of love and life were
on the signs. Despite the drizzling
rain, we had some by-passers honk and give us a thumbs-up. Others chose to show us a different
finger. In the past, I would have been insulted
by the second gesture, but this year I felt a deep sadness for those
people. They do not understand the full
impact of "choice" when it comes to taking the life of someone who
has done no harm to anyone. It breaks my heart when some people would
rather have someone else die than to be inconvenienced. They just do not understand.
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