Tell Me the Story About the Day I Was Born.....

​“Tell me the story about the day I was born.”
 
My mom says, “Again?  I tell you this story every year.”  Well, of course.  Birthdays should be celebrated.  Life is a gift and I love to hear her tell the story to me.  That’s a gift too.
 
This year, I will call again on the start of my 62nd year of life.  But, this year, I would like to do something different.
 
I want to say ‘thank you’ to my Mom AND Dad for choosing to give me life.  They were young and unmarried.  It would have been convenient in today’s culture to terminate the pregnancy.  No Jeff; no Ben; no Samuel; no Koen.   Debbie and Alyssa would have married other men.  I would have continued to live in another place; but not here.    Pregnancy is temporary.  Death is permanent. 
 
I would have never had the opportunity to exercise my choices:  Marrying Debbie;  Being in Ministry;  Rooting for the Steelers; Serving in the Army….
 
My voice would have never been heard.  I would have been silenced before I had the chance to make my first sound, utter my first words, or sing my first song.   I would have never had the chance to laugh or cry…well, not that anyone would hear.
 
And my Mom would have never made the decision without my Dad.  They decided to get married.  It was a different time.  I was brought home from the hospital to a little rented farm house.   I got to live.  I’m very thankful.  Thank you Mom and Dad for not making my right to live an issue of your right to choose.  I know it didn’t make your life easier.  But, I hope it made it richer.
 
So, ‘tell me the story’ again.  It’s a story that some innocent children never get to hear.  Tell me about the day I was born……