Jan
11
2018
An Early Morning Text
Posted in Motherhood 2 Comments
The text came through early in the morning.
It was sent on the family thread.
It was part of the ongoing conversation we use most days to stay connected.
Funny things, serious things, and accomplishments all find their way on the thread.
This text was very special.
This text consisted of two pictures.
The pictures were gray, grainy, and yet so incredibly beautiful.
It was the subject of the picture that took my breath away.
My daughter and her husband had an appointment that morning.
She was sending all of us the ultrasound pictures of their baby.
There he or she was; a moment in time caught for all of us to see.
I held my phone in my hand and saw my grandbaby.
My daughter and her husband do not want to know whether they are having a boy or a girl.
They want to be surprised.
We each have our guesses.
We actually have a 3×5 card on the side of our refrigerator that lists all of our guesses.
My husband and I and our daughter-in-love think the baby is a girl.
Everyone else thinks the baby is a boy.
We will not find out until the baby’s birth in the spring.
In the meantime, we wait, we pray, and we rejoice.
I looked at the two pictures I held in my hand.
I could see the sweet profile of my grandchild.
I could see the tiny hand close to the baby’s mouth.
We have a thumb sucker, I said out loud.
Things have changed since the ultrasounds I had with my own children.
The quality of the pictures is much clearer.
I remember looking at the screen in amazement all those years ago.
I was in awe as the technician pointed to the beating heart, the lungs, and the spine.
The things I remember about my own children’s ultrasounds were the things my daughter saw.
For a short time, the veil was pulled back.
For a few minutes, a glimpse of life on the other side was possible.
For a time, the baby growing on the inside was seen by a mother’s eyes on the outside.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)
Some object to a young mother, pregnant and alone, seeing her baby’s ultrasound.
Those who object know that once seen, denial is impossible.
Once seen, it is obvious that what is called a mere glob of tissue is indeed a baby.
A baby with a beating heart, fingers and toes, and a profile that is clearly seen.
God allows the veil to be pulled back so that we can testify to life.
God allows us to see the precious growing baby that is for a time on the other side.
Once we see, we cannot turn our head.
Once we see, we cannot help but defend the life we are looking at with our own eyes.
No one will tell me that the baby I see in the ultrasound pictures is only a glob of tissue.
The precious baby I see is already loved.
My children know that they are already aunts and uncles.
My husband and I know that we are already grandparents.
Location does not determine whether that which is growing inside a mother is a baby or not.
From the moment of conception, that precious baby is indeed a baby.
Small, yes.
However, the DNA imprint of everything that child will be is present from the beginning.
Science teaches without reservation that life begins at fertilization (conception). It is a scientific fact that an organism exists after fertilization that did not exist before. This new organism has its own DNA distinct from the mother and father, meaning that it is a unique person. As the embryo grows, it develops a heartbeat (22 days after fertilization), its own circulatory system, and its own organs. From fertilization, it is a new organism that is alive and will continue to grow and develop as long as nutrition is provided and its life is not ended through violence or illness…Preborn babies are among the most vulnerable and helpless members of our society. The value of human beings is not dependent on where they are, how tall they are, what race they are, what they look like, or how old they are. Each person has inherent worth because of who and what he or she is: a member of the human species.
(https://www.liveaction.org/news/life-begins-at-conception-science-teaches/)
That baby is my grandbaby.
That baby is already deeply loved.
That baby is the child of my daughter and her husband.
That baby is created in the image of God.
Imago Dei.
Made in the image of God.
Knitted together in our mother’s womb by the Creator.
Fearfully and wonderfully made.
The spring cannot come soon enough.
We wait.
We pray.
We rejoice.
Congratulations Gina! So excited for you and your family!
We will have to catch up soon….we have some ailing parents and so I have had to spend more time in FL than I anticipated, but I will try to reach you on one of my long drives up and down I-75. So excited for all the spring holds for you, your family and a new grand baby!
Thank you, Diane. I would love to catch up on one of your long car rides.
Blessings to you and your family!
Gina