The following is my article for The News Tribune (Tacoma). To God be the glory.

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I may ruffle some feathers with this article, but I would not be living up to my self-proclaimed title, “Feisty Pastor”, if I did not write this. You see, Sunday, January 19 is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It is a time for us to remember and call on people to cherish life – all life. This is not an anti-abortion movement but a PRO-life movement – a recognition that all life, as it begins at conception and ends in natural death, is valuable. In the Word of God from Psalm 139:13-16, the psalmist writes,

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

One of the criticisms I hear from the pro-choice crowd is, “You care about the unborn but once they are born you stop caring.” It paints the pro-life crowd in broad brush strokes – only showing what they are against and that they really do not care about ALL life. Well, this is simply not true. Yes, there may be some that fit this description, but this is not the reality with most who hold the pro-life label. This is not about stopping a particular medical procedure that kills a baby — this is about cherishing ALL life in ALL stages.

My wife and I are adoptive parents, not because there was a medical reason behind us not getting pregnant, but rather we felt called. But like many men and women who seek to adopt, we faced many challenges to make our dream a reality – mainly financial. And there are many more parents out there like my wife and me. The problem is adoption is so cost-prohibitive for many. I struggled with this for a long time. Thankfully, God blessed my wife and I with loving family and friends to help us. The government wants taxpayers to fund abortions – to kill innocent lives – but what about funding adoptions? What about helping men and women with resources to give loving homes to children whose birth parents cannot care for them or those who are simply, “unwanted”.

My wife and I are definitely happy that our children were allowed to live. I cannot imagine life without them. They are precious. ALL life is precious – the unborn and the born, young and old, black and white, healthy or not. God is the creator of life. God knit you in your mother’s womb. God knew you before a sperm and an egg met and started multiplying. You were wonderfully made. On this Sanctity of Human Life Sunday and hereafter, please pray for and cherish ALL life. To God be the glory. Amen.