During this holy season, we should all pause and take time to thank God for His many blessings.  We especially thank Him for the Five "Fs": our faith, our families, our friends, our flag, and our freedom.

Before all of these blessings, however, we must first give thanks for our very lives.  Christmas is the season of life, and we should all look in wonder at the eternal truth that our lives are a divine gift – and especially the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  To Christians, He is not merely a man, not just the greatest man in history, but the Son of the eternal God, the Savior of the world.  In His own words, He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

The Sacredness of Pregnancy

Just as He dwelt among us, let us dwell for a moment on this truth.  The essential precursor to life is pregnancy.  Some of us need to be reminded of the obvious.  To misquote the great Sherlock Holmes, "there is nothing more elusive [deceptive] than an obvious fact."

Yes, pregnancy is a sacred gift.  We should ponder the mystery that Christmas is the celebration of the completion of the "the divine pregnancy" and the opening of the most sacred life in human history.

What Pregnancy Is Not

No, Planned Parenthood and its followers, a pregnancy is not a disease (Robert Marshall and Charles Donovan, Blessed Are the Barren, p. 71).  Nor is pregnancy a "parasite" or an "invader," as some have argued.  No, it's simply a baby growing toward the time of his birth, as we all once were.

No, my "pro-choice" friends, a pregnancy is not unwanted, even though it may be unexpected.  "Unwantedness" is not a characteristic of the child.  It is an attitude in the mind or a fear in the heart of the mother or the father.  Thousands of couples are yearning to adopt that wanted child.  Countless children who were adopted were chosen by parents who wanted that "unwanted" baby.  Sadly, many "born" children are not particularly wanted.

No, a pregnancy is not unplanned.  Every human life is planned by the Divine Planner.  To all of you fearful expectant moms who feel you have no choice, remember the Scripture spoken by the angel to Mary: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God."  Please know that, like Mary, you have the gift of a new human life within you, a life conceived by the grace of God.  You also have thousands of people at over 2,200 crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) across the U.S. ready and willing to serve you in love and provide for your prenatal, maternal, medical, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs – most often at no charge.

Those of us who serve in these CPCs also want to encourage the father of your child to stand with you to protect that tiny miracle that the two of you have created together.  There are ministries for every man who finds himself in an unanticipated pregnancy.  One such program is called Project Joseph.  Some of us men in pro-life ministries have been where you are and know that you need help, too.  We want to let you know that you are not "going to be a father."  You already are a father, whether the child lives or not.  You need to know that your choice now is to decide whether you are willing to be a daddy, a provider, a protector, a teacher, and a husband to the woman you have made a mother.  In short, you need to become the man your Creator intended you to be.  You have the perfect role model.  His name is Joseph.

Mary, Joseph, and the Miracles Among Us

So let us take a moment as we celebrate this holy season to contemplate the miracle of the pregnancy that came to Mary and Joseph, who accepted the news from above obediently and unhesitatingly.  Mary's pregnancy began the human life of the Son of God in one young woman's chaste womb.  She carried the Son of Man who was also the Son of God, the Eternal Word, the Prince of Peace.

Mary's strong and silent spouse, the carpenter Joseph, also heard the words of the Angel: "fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS."  Joseph willingly accepted the sacred gift of fatherhood and became the "man closest to Christ."

While we ponder these mysteries, let us recognize that we ourselves are all miracles, made in His image and likeness.

God bless us all, born and pre-born.