September 12th was the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children. Our family went to Resurrection Cemetery on Regent Street in Madison where there is a memorial to the unborn children lost to abortion. Perhaps a more moving ceremony would be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee, the grave site of 1,286 aborted children. But I wanted to keep this private for our family, and meaningful for our children. We dressed for a funeral and prepped the kids. It's always so tough for me to explain abortion to our 5-year-old boys. They keep on asking what abortion means, like they must have misunderstood our previous explanations, like the explanation is so wrong that Dad and Mom must not be saying what I think they're saying.
I was at the public hearing for assembly bill 310, which would prevent Planned Parenthood from being the sole recipient for all of Wisconsin's Title X healthcare funding. I left shortly after a strongly opposed Democrat was offended that the word "kill" be used in conjunction with abortion. I wonder what her definition would be if she had to explain abortion to kindergartners.
My definition to the boys: Abortion is when a mommy doesn't want the child in her tummy, so she has her child killed.
And I need to quickly follow this up with, "This is wrong. It is against God's will, against the 5th Commandment, but our government lets women do this. This is why we help."
We opened with hymn 282 "Lord, Open Now My Heart to Hear" to prepare us to hear God's words to us.
We also sang hymn 378 "All Mankind Fell in Adam's Fall" to keep us humble, reminding us that we are all lost without Christ.
I then read the following passages with summaries:
Genesis 1:26-28 We are the crown of creation made in the image of God.
Psalm 93 God is eternal.
Ecclesiastes 3:11-17 We have eternal souls. We will also be judged for what we've done.
Exodus 20:13 God tells us not to kill another human being.
Deuteronomy 28: 11,18 Blesses and curses for God's people, Israel, which include your offspring. When society loses God's truth, our children are hurt in the worst ways.
Judges 13:7 Samson was set apart in his mother's womb. He was fulfilling God's purpose before birth.
Psalm 139:13-24 David knew God watched over him in the womb. He also asks God to search him and lead him to eternal life. My wife commented on what a great prayer for us to pray.
Job 10:8-12 Job also confesses how God formed him in the womb.
Psalm 127:3 Children are an awesome blessing.
Intermission: The kids noticed that the memorial had grass on it from the mower, so they took the time to clean off the memorial. We praised them for honoring these lost children by cleaning their memorial.
Since we know these truths of God, what are we to do?
Proverbs 31:8-9 Speak up and defend their cause.
Matthew 7:12 Treat them like we would want to be treated.
Isaiah 1:13-20 with emphasis on verse 17 The Israelites were still going to church, but then they did whatever they wanted during the week. God was disgusted with their false worship, and just wanted them to live their faith.
There were several other questions the kids had has we read God's word. I don't remember all of it (some of you are thinking, "Good thing. This is a very boring post.")
Then we sang the following hymns:
401 "Your Works, Not Mine, O Christ"
431 "I Walk in Danger All the Way"
462 "Oh, that the Lord Would Guide My Ways"
477 "What is the World to Me"
We prayed hymn 522 "Grant Peace, We Pray, in Mercy, Lord"
And sang 579 "Lift High the Cross" to close.
It was good for our family. This is the world we live in. Why distract our children from reality? God calls each of us to work for His purpose. That includes our children.
May God bless your family.
