Down

I was reading the “Searchlight”, published by the Independent Baptist Fellowship International.  We had a Missions Sunday with IBFI missionaries, and our Pastor is speaking this coming week at an IBFI conference in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.  Among several articles in the “Searchlight” was “A Word From The President.”

The IBFI’s president wrote of his son’s preparation for his first day at high school.  There were Post-It notes on the clothes he laid out. There were notes on his toothbrush, the bath tub.  He planned his first day of high school, then went to bed at 8:00.  His father also wrote of what his son said to his mother:  “Thank you for having me.”

Testing for Down syndrome is getting more and more exact.  Two years ago it was an amniocentesis that hinted to a friend of mine that her fourth pregnancy, at forty-plus, might give them a Down child. But she wasn’t concerned.  Their third pregnancy indicated a similar diagnosis.  For them it didn’t really matter, abortion was not to be considered, though it is for many others.

An interesting 2007 New York Times article is an interview with Sarah Itoh, then eleven, who said she likes to read, math was getting easier, she was a Girl Scout, and aunt.  She also said:

“I am so lucky I get to do so many things,” she concluded. “I just want you to know, even though I have Down syndrome, it is O.K.”

The article also stated:

About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion.

Those termination percentages come from the National Institute of Health and remain valid.

This reminds me of the man who found a butterfly chrysalis as it began cracking open.  He watched, then decided to help. His doing so meant the butterfly did not get the necessary exercise to be able to fly.

Perhaps the women who opt for abortion know themselves well enough that they firmly believe they do not have sufficient strength nor love to enjoy their child.  Or, they may be a butterfly getting help and will not know that depth of unconditional love.

You see, I don’t believe this verse applies only to Jeremiah:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5 KJV)

There are other verses that tell us God knows all about us, from conception.

Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee;  (Isaiah 44:2a KJV)

From Isaiah to Paul, the message is the same:

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. (Isaiah 64:4 KJV)
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV)