TGIF
This week I’m cross posting this article by Sarah from her blog, The Small Rain.
She asked if I’d by interested in doing so….and you can read why I was.
Fearfully and Wonderfully….and not forgotten.
I have been listening to the debate raging on my FaceBook feed, on Twitter and in the news. The debate about the Planned Parenthood video. It seems issues of deep importance, with political ramifications, keep demanding my attention. As I said the other day, I am not a fan of entering political or theological debates on FaceBook or Twitter. I simply do better hearing the voice and having the chance to draw out my thoughts in dialog.
Still. I was left feeling chilled and deeply saddened by the video. Many of us were impacted as deeply by the callousness of the conversation as we were by the topic. I’m not sure I could have eaten in the discussion.
There are certain truths that define us. For myself, the reality of God as Creator places such a deep value on each person. I confess I do not always carry that value in the forefront of my thoughts…and that is to my shame. As a mother of four, though, the amazing wonder of infancy and of simply the reality of how we are made is staggering.
We truly are fearfully and wonderfully created.
Fearfully.
Awesomely.
It should take our breath away when we realize we are carrying a life within us. Staggering. There should be a healthy fear, a Godly fear, of the gift we have in carrying life within ourselves. Carrying that Image Bearer. It is not something to be taken casually….it is staggering.
For some that reality is overwhelming to the point they feel the need to end that life.
I cannot go there. We have to do better in helping those who are overwhelmed by a pregnancy….but we so deeply need to be formed by the reality of the God of Creation marking each soul as an image bearer of Himself.
Image Bearer.
Deeply valued.
Still…my voice seems so small, and sometimes I feel I don’t have a ‘right’ to talk because I have no experience with abortion. I do, however, have a dear friend who is intimately formed by the abortion practice.
Gianna Jessen has spoken for most of her life about her experience.
“Born during saline abortion” is stamped on her birth certificate.
Intended not to live, she survived. And she values life in a way that shouts not only of that auspicious entrance, but also of the deep mark of a Creator who knew her, cared for her and has loved her since she was formed. Listen:
Who better to be engaged in this dialog than one who survived abortion?
I asked her permission to cull some of her thoughts from her FaceBook page to share with you here:
“Enough with the cocktail party Jesus we create with our enlightenment. the one that makes the neighbors happy.
He’s not even real. we created him in the image of tmz.
All these things we face, will bring us face to face with what, and who we do or do not want. do we really want the Jesus that can raise us from the dead? the only One that can heal our land?
I am sitting here singing. in the darkness. All I want to do is sing to my passionate, beautiful God.”
“I know it’s not uber cool to mention Jesus anymore. But we have the blood of over fifty million unborn children on our hands as a nation. How can we bear the weight of that burden without Him?
How can I be embarrassed to proclaim the God Who spared me from that?
If you are in a position to share Gianna’s story, what better time? She has a perspective few of us have. A perspective that is vital in this dialog.
It is not simply that abortion is bad. It is this…you are created by a loving God. The little one within you is created, not forgotten or ignored. Not simply a lump of tissue…a little soul and light and life with a purpose.
Did you hear? You….sitting right there….you are known and loved and marked by the image of a Creator God. He knows you, loves you and has so much grace for you. And, Oh my soul, we need to be moved by these videos and by this reality.
You are Loved by God and not forgotten. Nothing about you is forgotten.
Victory!
(For booking info see giannajessen.com. Text message updates (no spam) text: gianna to 95577)
As liberal as I am and as contrary as I am to many people of faith, I am staunchly pro-life and anti-abortion. Always have been, and so I’ll remain.
Thank you Michael for sharing Sarah’s blog post. Excellent and very deep truth.
What I find so amazing is how people are so zealous about animal protection laws yet could care less about helpless preborn children. Hmmmmm…..
Thanks for sharing.
Couldn’t make it through the whole video here at work. Will finish it later and pass it on.
That’s one smart lump of tissue speaking there.
This is such a great post. Sarah is a wonderful writer. It was through Sarah that we were privileged to host Gianna in our home for several days. She is a spit fire of a woman and a testimony to the goodness of God, in the midst of difficulty. Her life is truly a witness to the grace and providence of God.
Wow! So beautifully communicated!
This is powerful and wonderful.
Pretty good clip.
I thought she was just a little quirky as many smart dedicated purposeful people are.
Then just WOW, cerebral palsy from asphyxiation during a failed abortion.
Up close and personal to this fight as my mother was a director at an christian anti-abortion
clinic for many years. Responsible for saving many lives she is, through the help of Jesus of course.
PS – More Sarah!
🙂
This is heart wrenching, but it also grieves me that we don’t seem to see where the door opened to all this sorrow – For instance, i grieve for the homosexuals – like the proliferation of abortions they are the result of the careless shepherding of our young ones, of tolerance of evil… IMV
So much that even secular mid-twentieth century America knew as sin, became negotiable. We all sin because that’s what sinners do, so we may as well adjust, overlook or ignore it. The biggest sin of all? Church dogma
Rev 2:20
What exactly does it mean to tolerate? The Church has tolerated their young people’s sexual immorality calling it raging hormones – the times we live in. Don’t alienate our darlings, they’ll come around. Divorce? Let’s be tolerant, there are two sides to every story and who are we to judge? Don’t hamper intellectual progress – civilization depends on it. Some of this must be laid at the door of us Protestants… as must the social engineering and corporate structure that took over our churches, talking out of both sides of our mouths – too blind to notice that the light went out…
Now the Church stands yelling at the ignorant and amoral horse as it runs freely down the road looking for those greener pastures of intellectualism, free of wisdom and its constraints…
Is history fulfilling prophesy or does the Church wake up, grow up and turn the nation around? i don’t know…
THANK YOU
For introducing us to Gianna … she is the most KICK-ASS voice for so many good things that I have heard in FOREVER. This woman is a VOICE in the midst of echoes.
No Beggar Dread
Thanks are entirely to Sarah…and Gianna.