“America you are beautiful…and blessed….
The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless.
If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life.”
-Pope John Paul II
I have been blessed to carry 9 children within me. I didn't always feel that way with each pregnancy. I was more prepared emotionally for some pregnancies more than others.
I have nothing but compassion for the women who find themselves feeling trapped and devastated by an unplanned pregnancy. That emotional turmoil is incredibly hard to work through. I thank God all the time that He gave us the grace to choose life when we were unmarried, 18, and our first pregnancy derailed the direction we thought our lives were going in. The new path was not like we had planned....but it has been blessed with many little, (and now not so little), people that He had planned all along.
This little guy....
and now not so little guy...
...started our parenting journey.
This journey has been no merry-go-round! It is not all bliss...no angels singing every moment of every day! There have been lots of growing and stretching that I have gone through as a person, (Emotionally and spiritually even more than physically! And I think that's impressive...9 babies have certainly provided me with quite the stretch marks! I carry them proudly...they're my baby badges!)
Each of my children has a mission. Even our fourth child, Therese, who was born with a genetic disorder that was "incompatible with life", had a mission. Her mission was just much shorter than the rest of us...and her eternal life is much more powerful because she is perfect and innocent as she gazes on God every day of eternity interceding for her very imperfect family here on Earth!
Even Peter, who is severely affected by Autism, has a mission. Even though in the world's eyes he will never, ever fit into society's mold for the "perfect" child, in God's eyes he will be more perfect than any of us because he will always live life with the heart of a child.
Maybe my adult life didn't start out the way that I had planned it, but God worked it all out so much better than I ever could have.
Today, my prayers and thoughts are for the millions of mothers and fathers that carry hurt from abortion. I hope they find the healing they need. I pray that love guides our actions to care for all the weakest and defenseless in our country and in our communities and in our own families. While that includes all the unborn, it also includes those with special needs, the sick, and the elderly. I hope we always find the care and compassion to help everyone placed in our paths.
