Catchin' Some Waves: The Cost of Roe at 35

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Cost of Roe at 35

Cal Thomas,syndicated columnist, wrote an excellent piece on the impact of 35 years of legalized abortion in the US. Read it here.

11 comments:

Scott said...: I had seen that article in our paper. To think of all the babies is so sad. All the lost talent, all the lost love. At the same time I know many ladies who live with terrible sadness over a previous choice. I know there is grace available and forgiveness. But still so sad.; January 23, 2008 at 5:31 AM
Anonymous said...: You look at Gwyneth and her fight to live and then you look at all the pain Roe has, and continues to have, on our world. Very sad!

I was trying to figure out how to email you because Nate said his servers down and I had sent him a story that I thought you all would enjoy. I'll try posting it here. . . .

The Smell of Rain

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the Doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10,1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24 weeks pregnant, to Danae Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. I don't think she's going to make it, he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10 percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one." Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on. "No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.

Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live, and live to be a healthy, happy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable. David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements. Diana remembers, 'I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen, I couldn't listen. I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say; Danae is not going to die! One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"

As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her miniature body could endure. But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's under-developed nervous system was essentially raw, the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger.

But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later-though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero. Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She shows no signs, what so ever, of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more-but that happy ending is far from the end of her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet, it smells like rain. Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with the other children.

Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.; January 23, 2008 at 4:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Thank you! This article was very informative! I'm addicted to your blog.; January 23, 2008 at 5:05 PM
Rick Lawrenson said...: Uh oh.; January 23, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Andy Lawrenson said...: Cal's article is good stuff.
We just saw an ad for that Juno movie tonight and wondered what it is about.

Andy; January 23, 2008 at 10:21 PM
Terri and Fam said...: I wanted to see if you could speak of something in your blog about prayer. If you email me I will send you the blog that asked about this and was sent to Nate's blog. I don't want to ask Nate to address it. There is some comments about if you have faith that is what heals you and if you don't have enough faith then that is why the child dies. Questions and such. Our son passed away from a long fight from a birth defect causing him to undergo 9 open heart surgeries. This mom followed our story and has questions as her son is about to undergo the same surgery that ultimately our son passed away from. We are believers and without a doubt know our son is healed and our prayers were answered for our son. Yet, have a hard time explaining that to her.

I know this is long but felt that it would be best explained by you about prayer and how it works. As she is know faithfully following your Nate's story as well.

tgrabb@cox.net

Thanks for your love for Christ!

Terri and family; January 24, 2008 at 9:28 AM
Rick Lawrenson said...: That would be good to address. I haven't seen (or maybe picked up on)those comments.

Short version answer - theology that puts the responsibility on someone else's prayer is not very good theology.

Remember the story of the man Jesus healed and He was asked, "Who sinned to make this man blind? His parents? Was it His own sin?" And His answer was "His blindness wasn't due to anyone's sin. It was so that God could be glorified."

So, if lack of "faith" is sin, who really holds the keys to life and death? It's that poor theology that puts so much into man's hands and takes them out of God's.; January 24, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi. I've been following Nate and Tricia and Gwyneths blog. This is off topic but did your wife ever teach? I had a teacher her name that even looked like her! It was awhile back I won't say how long...but I'd LOVE to know if its her cuz she was always my favorite teacher! If its not her feel free to answer me and delete my post. I of course will continue to pray for your family and believe with you!

shannon n kyle
www.caringbridge.org/visit/kylelillard; January 25, 2008 at 2:09 AM
Rick Lawrenson said...: Hi Shannon,
Yes, she was a teacher. She taught in VA, CA and OK.; January 25, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Anonymous said...: Wow...I was right! Tell her I went to Moody Christian Academy in 6th grade in Tulsa for one year only. She was the nicest and my favorite teacher! And if she remembers tell her I still can recite my verbs.....ha ha...never forgot em! Funny that is all I remember from 6th grade...LOL. Just her. Here's my email if she wants to say hi! rswhite7@aol.com; January 25, 2008 at 11:53 AM
CFHusband said...: I missed those comments as well...; January 26, 2008 at 8:23 AM