By Bonnie Finnerty, Education Director
In this season of gift-giving, pretty packages with glittery ribbons abound, stirring curiosity and creating anticipation.
The completely unexpected gift is often the best. Someone takes us by surprise, filling us with a sense of delight and wonder as we carefully unwrap the layers to discover whatever treasure lies within.
Imagine, however, we never open the gift. Perhaps the packaging is not what we expected. Or the ribbon is knotted and the gift difficult to open. Rather than embracing this gift with joyful anticipation, we are discouraged and discard it. Left unopened, we never realize what awaited us.
When a young woman faces an unexpected pregnancy, she may feel overwhelmed by the gift of life she has been given. Perhaps it doesn’t seem the right gift at the right time or under the right circumstances. There are knots and imperfections and fear of the unknown.
The abortion industry plays into these negative feelings and says it’s all right to discard the gift. That it’s no big deal. That the gift of life is not a gift at all, but a burden to be rid of, a “problem” that can literally be thrown away.
And in a vulnerable moment, she may succumb to this distorted notion, allowing a unique and precious gift to remain forever unopened, its promise and potential never known.
There may be a short-lived sense of relief. But that will eventually give way to a longer lasting sentiment: wonder at what might have been. And who might have been.
Too many women know the ache of the unopened gift.
And too many lives, 62 million, have been discarded.
That is why we must always endeavor to help women in crisis open every gift of life.
With strong support, these mothers can see through the imperfect packaging of an untimely pregnancy. By making resources available to them, they can undo difficult knots, peel back layers, and see the gift of precious human life revealed. A unique gift given to only them at that specific point in time.
A gift of life that can bring them or perhaps an adoptive family untold joy.
A gift of life that will impact the world as we experience its promise and potential.
As we exchange gifts this season, let us vow to cherish and support the gift of every human life, however it is “wrapped,” especially those gifts of life that are unexpected.