What if . . . ?

What if you learned early on in your pregnancy that your baby had a serious birth defect, an anomaly that could not be corrected? Your baby would die, if not before birth then shortly after.

What if, for as long as you could remember, you believed that life and death decisions were in the hands of God. But now you wonder . . . you wonder if abortion wouldn't be the kinder act.

Kinder? For whom? Not for the baby. The baby is comfy and cozy in his sac of waters. He hears you talk and sing, feels him pat your tummy, sleeps safely inside you through the night. He doesn't know he's sick!

But you do and, in your grief, you wonder.

Surely God wouldn't ask you to carry this baby to term knowing the separation anxiety ahead of you will be greater with every passing day. Surely God could have no purpose in asking you to sacrifice so much . . . . Why would He do that?

But you remember all the times you've thanked Him for His many blessings and you decide to let God be God. You decide to choose life even though you don't understand what is going on? You choose to declare along with Job, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

Then, what if you carried your baby to term and delivered an unblemished child? Such things happen. Medical mistakes? Miracles?

What if . . . we simply trust God and obey Him? Whether or not the outcome is what we hope for, our response will have been right. Those who receive a "less than perfect" child at the hands of the Lord also receive His grace to find joy in the morning.

For information and help surrounding this issue, visit www.perinatalhospice.org and www.aaplog.org/PositionsAndPapers/PerinatalHospice.aspx