Sanctity of Life

/ Cecilia Bacon

Sanctity of Life

This phrase applies to so many areas of life, but I believe our focus this weekend is on human life as it applies to pro-life verses the right to choose.

When I look around this room, I see the faces of many who have walked with the LORD most of their lives. My story is different. It reminds me of a song I barely know the words to, and I certainly don’t know the tune! But the first line of the song is:

One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn’t belong…

That would have been a very good description of me had I stepped in this class 20 years ago. You see, I didn’t choose to become a follower of Jesus until I was in my 40’s.

Like many of the Israelites we have been studying, I was very mad at Jesus for a long time and I refused to give Him my heart. There were only three people I trusted: Me, Myself, and I and there was no way I was going to allow Jesus to be a part of this exclusive group.

Typical of a teen in the early 70’s I was impacted by the media, and one of the biggest things to hit the news happened in 1971: Roe versus Wade. Every television set was tuned in to hear the details and form their own decisions.

I was 15 years old, I went to school full time, and I worked a job full time in the evenings with my older sister, and single mother. I was very independent, and I was mesmerized by this case!

In January of 1973, a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. It struck down many U.S. state and federal abortion laws and divided out country. It still divides our world today.

While all of this was happening in the news, our high schools were having their own arguments and debates. A very dangerous piece of information was planted in my mind through one of those discussions: when a person became pregnant it was essentially nothing more than a lump of skin, a cluster of cells, if you will, but it wasn’t alive. We were told life didn’t happen until that “lump” was many months along.

So, I believed it. I was pro-choice. I wasn’t old enough to vote for that right but that January in 1973 I took a stance to be pro-choice right along with the Supreme Court.

A year later, I became pregnant with my first child and I’ll never forget my response when the specialist asked me “would you like an abortion?” It was so casual my response at that young age of 17 was simply “I beg your pardon?” Gone was my bravado and politics. I simply looked at my belly and said, “I have a baby!”

The specialist warned me I would have complications and I might not carry that baby full term. She was right about one thing; that pregnancy was complicated, but I carried that baby full term and he was precious! I was warned he might be my only baby.

But God had other plans even though I still didn’t include Him in any of mine!

Three years later, I became pregnant again and I was given the same choice to abort. That pregnancy was very difficult, and I was in and out of the hospital, but again I carried her full term.

However, although that sweet little girl looked perfect, she was fraught with “problems.” We were in and out of doctors’ offices and by the time that child was nine years old she was finally diagnosed with epilepsy. You would think a parent would know that wouldn’t you? Well, it was complicated; and I did not know.

At age sixteen during a well check, my daughter and I were told: it’s not that Sarah can’t have children, but she should not because the risk to her and the babies could be devastating.

Sarah left that office crying and she said to me, I’m going to have a baby someday. Momma Bear simply said, no, you will not! A huge divide was created that day between me and Sarah.

In 2004, my husband Danny and I were on a vacation in KY and oddly enough we were visiting a Jim Beam manufacturing plant at 10:00 am for the first tour of the day. Danny worked for IBM and many of his clients were manufacturers. He was fascinated by the business and wanted to share that fascination with me. While we waited for the tour to begin, sweet young ladies were walking around with trays filled with small samples of their products. We both declined.

Suddenly I received a phone call from my Sarah. The tour was about to begin so I stepped outside and Danny decided to join me. Sarah’s first words were “are you sitting down?” We learned that morning she was not only pregnant, she was carrying twins. I will never forget that moment. Sarah did not get the joyful excitement from her Momma one typically expects, I was FURIOUS! I was also terrified. Our conversation ended quickly and badly.

Danny and I rejoined the tour and I stopped by one of those sweet young ladies and drank every glass of whisky on that tray!!!

Two weeks later I was in OK with my very frail daughter. She had been referred to a doctor who dealt with special cases like Sarah’s. At this point Sarah was seven weeks pregnant and had already had multiple Grand Mal seizures. She and the baby’s health were both in danger.

There was also one very significant difference that day in 2004 as we waited in that specialist’s office filled with medical equipment: I was a new believer in Jesus Christ.

So, what does a pro-choice woman do/feel/think as a believer in Jesus Christ when her child is faced with a life-threatening pregnancy? I’d like to say I was a much different woman, but I was still a new believer. So I went directly back into my practical Momma Bear mode and told myself if the doctor said my daughter must terminate the pregnancy for the safety of her health, that’s what would happen.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud. I simply told Sarah we needed to listen carefully to what that specialist had to say and follow his advice.

What does a 27-year-old young lady have to say about that? A girl who doesn’t really look one thing like her Momma but is exactly like her Momma on the inside, which includes a wide streak of stubbornness? She simply tells me that it doesn’t matter what he has to say she is having those babies.

Thankfully before we had a big old battle, the doctor arrived, and he carefully and gently explained everything until both of us were crying. It was hard information to hear. Then he told Sarah to hop up on his big old sonogram table/bed and he said, “let’s see what we are dealing with.”

Y’all what we saw were two little bitty babies. Not a lump of flesh but two little children that had arms, and legs, and sweet little faces with eyes. At seven weeks! I could even see their little hearts beating and he turned up that volume and it was the sweetest sound I had ever heard! The doctor said “look at your hands Momma and Grandma, because these children are about the size of your thumbs but they both look very healthy! This one right here,” he pointed with his finger, “will be Baby A and this one is Baby B. That’s how I will refer to them from this point forward until we know whether they are boys or girls or one of each.”

Can I just say that my pro-choice stance suddenly evaporated in thin air? I had absolute proof that even as tiny as they were, they were alive, whole, and I was looking at my grandchildren!

It was not an easy nine months! There were so many Grand Mal seizures, and her seizure medication had to be tripled. But she carried those children full term and when her delivery date finally arrived, she had those babies with no complications.

They were both addicted to her seizure medications at birth, and both had to go through withdrawals. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but despite our initial divisiveness, we worked together side by side like a well-oiled team to get those babies through to the other side.

By the way, Baby A on the right is Cheyenne, and Baby B on the left is Charles. They are now 15 years old, with not a single issue we had been pre-warned to expect. Here is their current picture (front view not included to protect them from predators):

Twins from Behind 7 2019

Thank you for letting me share our story.

 

 

28 thoughts on “Sanctity of Life”

  4. What an awesome story, Cecilia! Have you ever shared it with your church – or any church? This is the kind of story churches love to have their congregations hear, especially on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.
    P.S. My friend and prayer partner shared her story. She was an abortion survivor, who now has five children and eight grandchildren – thirteen wonderful people who would not exist if she had not survived.

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    • Thank you, Ann, you bless me with your sweet words. Yes, I did share it at church last weekend and it was received well. I was so blessed by their response. It gave me courage to share it on the blog so my daughter could share it with her friends. What a big WOW about your prayer partners story!!! With God all things are possible and her story and legacy should never stop encouraging others! Praise the LORD!!

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    • Thank you Ruth! Sarah is an epileptic still, but she is stable with the medications and has been for years. We were so blessed these twins did not get her seizure disorder since it is hereditary. God has blessed her and those twins mightily! 🥰

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  6. Beautiful story! Thank you so much for sharing! Doctors don’t always know what will really happen and it sounds like your doctor got a confident one who knew he could help bring those babies safely into your daughters arms. No, they were not blobs. My son saw my daughter at about 9 weeks. He was 8 and when we got home he said: “I’m
    Going to be a big brother! Oh, wait! I already am a big brother because she’s already alive in there!” I hadn’t said anything like that to him but he was smart enough to see that there was a baby in his mom’s belly and he was already a big brother. God bless.

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  7. What a great story! Had heard bits & pieces, but not all of it. Blessings in disguise❤❤ I was totally Pro-choice in 1973 & I celebrated the Roe v Wade decision. It wasn’t really a life, just a lump of cells…no big deal. But, then came late term abortion & finally, abortion up to birth & if that’s nor murder, I don’t know what is! I felt compelled to attend the March for Life this year to join with others celebrating Life that begins with conception. I’m so proud of our President who is the most Pro Life President in history. It’s our Christian duty to support him & vote for all conservatives who value the sanctity of life. Not one of the Democrats running does this. Beyond sad.

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    • It’s heartbreaking how we all bought the lie so quickly, isn’t it? I remember in the same school where we were being taught is was just a lump of cells, in our science class were were being taught every SINGLE cell was alive. I’ve often asked myself how I missed not asking for clarification? How could one be alive and the other not? Surely it was a test question in science? God points out truth and we choose to hear what we want based on what is convenient or easier to hear. I also stand in agreement with you: I will not vote for anyone who is pro-choice.

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  8. Cecilia, this post had me reading eagerly till the end. You are such a wonderful story teller! And when I got to the picture of your grandchildren, a happy sob rose up from my spirit and I laughed out loud with His joy and wiped the tears from my eyes! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!

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  9. Like you, I was on the fence about abortion rights until I became pregnant. But then I knew, absolutely and without any doubt, that killing the baby growing inside me was wrong. Period. Sometimes we just have to be open to God’s word…..

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  10. Oh my heart!! This was beautiful, I’m in tears❤️
    Did you change your blog name? I haven’t been able to read any of your post because I wasn’t getting them (it showed I wasn’t following you) and then I finally just google searched and found it this way!?
    My mother had an abortion as a young teenager right before me and then met and married my dad and they had me ..my mom also has epilepsy and has since she was a young teenager, her body developed too quickly and it caused her to have epilepsy..She was directed from the doctors to not have children but went on to have me and my two younger brothers❤️..This whole story resonates very close to home for me.

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    • Hmmmm, no, my blog name is still thywordmythoughts.com but I confess I haven’t been writing much lately. I used to think I need more time, but I can certainly see time is not my problem now! Praying about it.

      Thank you for sharing about your Mom too. ❤️ It’s such a great reminder to us God is always in control and when we are under His wings He does amazing things. I wrote this for my Sunday School class and my daughter asked me to put it in my blog for her friends to read. Our journey together has touched so many souls and I praise God; I know you do too from your personal perspective. I’m so glad your Mother found the Lord and that love for Jesus has fallen down through her ‘legacy’ (you) too! What joy! There is no greater joy for parents, grandparents, and so on to see their legacy surrender. Bless you!

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      • Amen! You are so right!! ❤️
        And I agree it is hard to find time to do everything and blogging really does take time, I’m trying to limit myself Within a certain amount of time depending on the day to put towards blogging otherwise I can get lost in the blogging world for hours and hours LOL
        So glad I was able to find your blog, I’m not sure what happened but it was not coming up in my blogs that I follow so I just had to manually find it and I’m sure glad I did!

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