Can we talk about LIFE?

These blog posts are usually in response to a conversation somewhere, something that's being brought to my attention, or something the Lord is putting on my heart.

As I've just spent the last two days writing our response to the Colorado Supreme Court, pouring over the arguments of both the opposition and the state, a theme arises from the pages.

It's not a surprise, yet it's worth addressing. Everything in their arguments were from the perspective of death. All of it. It even went so far as to worry that our proposed Amendment would protect newborns. They are right.

One has to ask, why does that bother them so much? And why did they mention concern that it might mean children should feel safe at school? And why did they ask the question if children should be fed and sheltered?

Over and over again they repeat the same lies through the same lens through which they cannot see the beautiful. They miss the precious. They overlook the reality. They overthink the honest. They miss the point.

Can we talk about LIFE? Can we look at the sweet faces and innocence of children, their giggles, and their joy, their smiles and their trust. Children are the best of our humanity.

The quirky smiles and corny jokes and hugs and songs and dancing. They are what it means to be human. They are an example to us of trusting God. We see ourselves in them as we relate to our heavenly Father.

Children help us trust God. They help us embrace faith, They exude joy. They exemplify hope. They are a voice of praise. They sing and dance in total innocence. And love. Without hypocrisy, without boundary, without conditions, children love. They are full of life so long as they are living.

It is in the faces of children that hope arises. It is in the eyes of the young that eternity shines brightly. It is in the laughter of the little ones that angels smile. The faith of these precious ones points us toward heaven.

When all is said and done, we are holding out to the darkness, to the degenerate, to the faithless and obscene a glorious light of hope, truth, love, and faith. So much so that they cannot comprehend it. But they cannot overcome it, either.

We have to speak lest the silence become deafening. We have to live like we say we believe. We have to run the race that is set before us. Not for us, but for those who will come after us.

Children are not a drudgery or a distraction. They are the main event. When the curtain on the stage opens, it is the children in the Christmas play that makes us teary. It is their songs that lift the spirit. It is their lack of filter that makes us giggle.

They make Christmas festive. An outing memorable. The house filled with love and laughter. A meal worth talking about. A trip worth taking. Extra effort worth making.

Children are a heritage from the Lord. Every child is a blessing not to want to miss. Yes, it is work to grow a baby. And it is work to raise a child. But everything worth doing requires effort. And the more effort we put forward, the more rewarding the result, and the more we appreciate the victory and share in the celebration.

That their Creator loves them so dearly, and His enemy would destroy them so intensely, while we dismiss them so nonchalantly, is significant. God has put the desire in a woman's heart to be a mother. That is God's desire for her. That is a longing of her heart He wants to fulfill for her. Whether early or late, or inconvenient, that is a dream of her soul that God can complete, and love can awake, when embracing children.

Children point us to their Creator, and ours. To simple truths. And unfathomable complexities. The beauty of the universe and the rhythms of the seasons become new again. And we remember ourselves. We slow down. When we stop handing children to devices to entertain themselves, or send them off for someone else to coach them, we get to know these incredible beings that are a lot like us. How we once were. How we wanted to be.

We start humming again, and singing, and whistling, and rocking. We see colors and lady bugs and frogs and stars and leaves. We hear music. We play again. We have someone to hold close every day. And we remember how it feels to love and hear "I love you" from a child.

For the woman who has looked for love in all the wrong places, sometimes God decides to give her someone to love, to love her, to give her a chance to experience real love by growing her out of her selfishness and into the selfless love of motherhood. For the boy who wanted no responsibility, sometimes God grows him into a man by giving him the significance of fatherhood.

For the children.

For the songs that they are singing.

For their dancing and believing.

For their joy. And for their tears.

For the light within their eyes

And the start of many years.

For their mothers and their fathers

who find hope to see them through.

For the Father and His pleasure.

For the morning that comes anew.

For the anthem of the ages

They carry forward that is true.

For the silent nights and sleepless,

For the best of me and you.

Rest securely little baby

As you curl within the womb

I am fighting for you, Sweetheart,

I hope to meet you someday soon.

"for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." - Jesus (Matthew 19:14b, NIV)

"When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel." (Isaiah 29:23, NIV)