Download LifeDate Summer 2021
by Dr. Barbara Geistfeld
As I write this, we are in the middle of our Mother’s Day to Father’s Day baby bottle drive at our church in Texas! All over the nation, pregnancy care centers are using baby bottles to raise funds to sustain their life-supporting ministries. What better time to do this than during the time we honor mothers and fathers? We know that every child has a mother and a father. Every child is created by God, in His image, on purpose—for His purpose! This is the wonderful thing about human babies: ALL of us share this exact same thing in common—each of us is planned! This is family planning at its very best!
In Jeremiah 1:5, God says very plainly:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”
The Psalmist says in Psalm 139:13-14:
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
And of course, the final proof of our worth is that Jesus died for us, paid for our sins, and gave us the gift of eternal life when we were baptized into His death and resurrection. He affirms this gift in John 15:16 when he says:
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.”
Tragically, most of the world does not know any of this. They do not know “who they are and whose they are,” as we like to say in the body of Christ.
So, in this world of sin and death, we need baby bottle drives. We need pregnancy care centers. In 2017, in the United States alone, 862,320 abortions were provided in clinical settings. The total number of abortions in the U.S. from 1973-2018 is now 61.8 million plus and growing by the minute. That’s 62 million fellow human beings lost before they even drew a breath.
Now, let’s make these numbers a little more personal, shall we? The number of abortions in Texas for 2019 totaled 55,966. That is 153 abortions per DAY. Of the abortions, 83% were performed on unmarried women, so there are not too many fathers around for support. And what can we safely assume about the numbers that will come out after the COVID pandemic? Planned Parenthood stepped up the assault on women because of their additional stress and fears, so the number of children lost will surely increase again.
The body of Christ is the answer. Every time we speak up for the sanctity of life, whether for the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, or the marginalized, we speak for hope. Every time we drop some coins or a check into a baby bottle, we stand for hope and healing and life. Every time we personally care for someone or hug someone or talk to someone who is in a crisis pregnancy or is disabled or is elderly or is marginalized, we show them Christ. We show them the common ground that transcends all our differences. We show them that all our lives matter because God made us. He chose each of us to be His child, and He will never leave us or forsake us. Let us never give up on baby bottle drives and hugs and smiles. The world needs us!
Dr. Barb Geistfeld is Life Team Leader at Trinity, Blanco, Texas, and Lutherans For Life Regional Director of Texas.