Life is Important

Life is important.

There is a tiny baby boy I have had the privilege of caring for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He barely weighs two pounds. Did that sink in? Two. Flipping. Pounds - just a little over twice the weight of a football. He was born severely premature, but you wanna know what? He's a fighter. I have walked into his room on multiple occasions only to find that he has managed to escape the little nest we created with rolls of blankets all around him. His scrawny, wrinkly legs are thrown over the side of his nest, and his hands cover his face as if to say, "I know I am not supposed to be positioned like this. Please don't be mad at me. Look how cute I am." I begin to rub his belly to wake him up and he crinkles his mouth, nose, and forehead as he slowly opens one eye to peak at me. This little boy has my heart. His life is powerful. It has impacted me beyond what I can even begin to explain.

Sometimes he forgets to breathe. The alarms from his monitors start beeping, and we rush into his room to see what's going on. He's turned a dusky pink color. His heart rate and oxygen saturation are dropping. We grab the bag-mask and deliver breaths. We monitor him. I rub his belly, attempting to stimulate him. He eventually figures it out. Like I said, he's a fighter.

I have recently found myself lingering by his bed after I finish his cares. I stare at the miniature features he possesses and notice how perfectly proportionate he is. He is completely identifiable as a baby human, just a tiny one at that.

There are babies aborted at his age.

Life is important.

Life gives us the opportunity to know a God who loves recklessly. Life gives us the opportunity to experience joy in community with other believers of the Good News. Life gives us the opportunity to sing praises to our King while our hearts long for our anticipated reunion with Him. Life gives us the opportunity to pick up someone's broken heart and whisper healing truths to it. Life gives us the opportunity to spread our only hope - the Gospel.

Life gives us the opportunity to impact and be impacted, to know and be known.

Life is important.

Are you choosing to live?