A Challenge for Life

Last night was the annual Hope Center Spring Banquet. Once again, my husband and I attended. We were blessed to hear Pam Tebow, mother of football player, Tim Tebow, speak.

God used Pam – and the others – to speak to me. God placed several thoughts upon my heart so I wrote them down to share and process – with you.

Pam Tebow is a sincere and sweet voice for life. When she was pregnant with her son (Timmy), she was encouraged to have an abortion. Believing in the sanctity of life, she and her husband chose not to terminate the life of her unborn baby. God spared her life – and the life of her son – and has used them to be advocates for life.

Pam challenged us to do two things. First, she said that we must accept the reality of abortion. We do not like it and should not like it, but it is a sad reality of our sinful world. Second, we must decide what we are going to do to change this reality. What am I going to do to be a voice for life?

I have been raised to cherish life – life in both the young and the old, the capable and the disabled. I have taken part in pro-life walks and the Life Chain. I’ve coordinated chapel offerings for the local pregnancy care centers in Cincinnati and in Fort Wayne. I’ve given monetary donations as well as donations of diapers, wipes and food. I don’t say this to brag so I hope you can understand what my heart is struggling to convey. Truly, I feel that all of these things are scarcely a drop in the buck, especially when compared to the volunteer at all the pregnancy care centers around the United States. There is still so much to do. I feel there is so much more that I can do!

Life is precious. God created life. I want to show others how precious life is. When I think about the ways I support the pro-life voice, it is actually the most unusual thought that comes to mind. I have made a deliberate choice to speak to my students about babies.

Babies? What? It sounds unusual, but upon reflection, this could be my way to change the reality. Look at a little child. They learn from the time they are young about a baby that grows in Mommy’s tummy. They don’t learn about a fetus or a blob of tissue. They learn about a baby. I chose to be intentional about these conversations with my preschoolers and Kindergartners. I am always careful to speak in developmentally appropriate ways to these students of mine, but I do speak about life.I speak differently to my third and fourth graders, but I still talk about babies and life. As a teacher, especially one in a Lutheran school, I believe this is part of my God given ministry.

Still, I want to do more. Pam used a football analogy and asked us what we were doing in this quarter of our life. I’m starting my second quarter of life and want it to be a strong one. I want my children’s children to know of my witness for the Lord – and for His gift of life.

I don’t know how God is going to use me but I am praying that He will. I am praying that He will reveal to me what more I can do. For now, I know that I must continue praying and responding as God leads. As was said to Esther, “For such a time as this…”