I know you

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" -- Jeremiah 1:4

"We have being because we are known by God. ... Because He IS and because He wills, we, therefore, are and do."

~ 40 days for Life

Every child is known to the mind of God, before they are even conceived.
Mother Nadine tells of people who have received healing in prayer over things that were said about them and attitudes of their parents while they were yet in the womb.
We are each a person to God BEFORE we are conceived, so most certainly a child is a person at the moment of conception.

"My" body, "My" choice

The abortion argument centers around the problem of defining where life begins. Is this "thing" growing inside me my child or my body? If we first realize that each of us is a child of God, then this child isn't even my child, but rather God's. If it is God's, then God should get to decide when its life begins and ends, not us.

And that logic carries us even further to say that this body isn't even my body, but rather God's, of which I am only a steward. Which again liberates us from the complex question of where life begins and leaves us with a much simpler one: "Am I being a good steward of the body which God gave me?"

All that is left is my choice.

Never Silence Life

Guess I missed it: NeverSilenceLife.com - it was Jan. 22. Hopefully it will be annual.
That's nearly exactly what I wanted, so perhaps all I need to do is promote and participate.

Other links:
aCryWithoutAvoice.com
OperationOutcry.org
Bound4life.com
Prolife.com
SupportPersonhood.com
MemorialForTheUnborn.org

Red Envelope

RedEnvelopeProject.org

40 Days for Life

40daysforlife.com

Labels: Step 1

Before I can contact companies to suggest labeling, I think I need to research organizations to be able to offer concrete suggestions.

I'm already somewhat familiar with Birthright, and hopefully soon moreso through volunteering. A little research has yielded Heartbeat International and Optionline. Optionline also has a website building arm which seems to link to a lot of other like-minded organizations. Will have to check them out.

Pregnant? Need help?

Had an idea today while talking with a friend about abortion. The comment was made that a necessary function of abortion clinics is to give the lost ones a place to go to seek help. The argument was made that there, counselors have an opportunity to give parents options, but if the clinic didn't exist and they had to illegally obtain an abortion, how would we find those in need of help? While I don't agree that clearly identifying those who need counseling is enough to justify an abortion clinic, it does raise an interesting question.

Every advertiser wants to know how to touch their audience. So how do we reach those who would otherwise seek an abortion? Cigarette's are legally required to label the risk of their usage. What if pregnancy tests carried on it's packaging information on how to seek help if you're pregnant? Would it also be helpful to get similar labeling on birth control and condoms?

I'm seriously interested in finding out who to contact at companies that sell pregnancy tests and perhaps contraceptives to see if they would be willing to do so on their own, without being required by the government.

Speech

Perhaps I could have a sign adapted from the President's inauguration speech:

The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

(W)e reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.

We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by ... slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us.


It is ... a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility.

Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Obaby

I'm really scared, terrified.  I want to quit my job, postpone my wedding and fly to DC to sit in front of the White House 24hrs a day and pray.

When does a person begin?

A well derived argument found in the Articles section for the Andrew Tallman Show:

Working solely with the calendar of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Luke has told us that Jesus was a person with sufficient individual identity that His cousin could recognize him through the assistance of the Holy Spirit.(1:41-44) But Luke has also told us that when this occurred, Jesus could only have been a maximum of four weeks old and probably was much younger than that.

Gabriel announced the conception to Mary in Elizabeth’s sixth month.(1:26) Thereafter, Mary traveled to the hill country (1:39), where she stayed for about three months (1:56) before leaving prior to John the Baptist’s birth (1:57). This means that fetus Jesus must have been less than four weeks old when she arrived, a maximum given the parameters. But, given the fact that she went immediately and in haste (1:39), a much more likely reality is that He was only a few days old (perhaps not even implanted yet) when John recognizes Him. Mary certainly wouldn’t have even been able to know by ordinary means that she was pregnant yet.

So the pressing point of all this analysis is not that John in his third trimester was a person in the womb when he leapt for joy. The unavoidable and much more forceful point is that Jesus was in the very earliest portion of His first trimester when He was recognized by John as a person. And unless Jesus is not a human child, this means that all children are people at this early stage.