BABY MCLELLAN
It’s Wednesday, the 18th of January, early afternoon. I’m in the parsonage basement being watched by two dogs of varying size. Having just finished a summary review of Genesis 10-12 and talking with Tracey and Rhonda about upcoming church and youth events, I’m ready for a break. No, it’s not that there’s too much work to do. It’s not that I’m tired, bored, or anything but positive about all that has to get done today, the direction of Zion, or life in general. I’m ready for a break because I’m having a harder time focusing on what I’m doing than at any other time in my life (except maybe the week before I got married).
You see, Alissa is due to give birth to our first child in three days and I can’t stop thinking about the God-given miracle that is our unborn child. I want to share some thoughts I’ve had about being a parent-to-be in this month’s newsletter. My reasons for doing it are simple: I want to impress on you, in some way, what has been impressed on me during the 8 months that we’ve known Alissa has been pregnant. For those of you who have children, I hope to give voice to what you know to be true. For those of you who do not have children, I hope to illustrate, in some way, just how miraculous and wonderful your own creation in the womb was, and how God lovingly and with all wisdom knit you together in your mother’s womb.
When Alissa told me that she was pregnant, my first reaction was: “are you sure?” After all, we’d only been not trying not to try for a month. The first shot on goal always gets blocked. Or so I thought. But every pregnancy test Alissa took showed a + and not a - . We were going to be parents.
At three months in, we got to see our child on an ultrasound machine, alive and kicking. At four months, Alissa could feel the kicks. And at that time we had another ultrasound where we were able to see the hands and feet, eyes and heart, all operating as they were designed to. The kicking got more frequent and more powerful. This surprised no one; Alissa played soccer through college. The hiccups started and our baby has gotten into the ritual of kicking up a storm around 9:30 pm. Now, as we are only 3 days away from the medical community’s best guess as to when we will move from an “innie” to an “outie,” the movements are slower and more forceful, the heartbeat slower and more powerful, and the features of the baby are even sometimes visible through the skin on Alissa’s stomach.
I’ve been “prolife” as far back as I can remember. But after seeing, feeling and even hearing a baby grow in a woman’s womb, I cannot understand how anyone would think it is ever the best option to not bring this already-living person into the world. As God spoke to the prophet: “BEFORE I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”
But maybe even more than that, I cannot understand how anyone who has experienced what I have could come to the conclusion that we are all the result of the equation: random chance + time. The more we discover about the human body and how it grows and forms in the womb, the more complex it be- comes. The more we learn about how a human being grows in the womb, the more we realize we do not know. We are an infinitely complex creation. A countless number of infinitely complex events have to take place at the right time and in the right way for a human being to be born healthy (or be born at all). I am convinced the only entity that can make something so complex come together so often so perfectly is God.
Those of you who have children know what I am talking about. Those of you who have been blessed in other ways know that you have been created by the hand of God in a way that can only be described as miraculous.
All the best,
In Christ, Pastor Duncan
PS- please remember that our child is a miraculous blessing and gift from God down the road when his or her expressions of discontent and displeasure “enhance” your time in worship!☺
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