Reading Group-Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of I'll Hold You In Heaven is titled " When Does Significance Begin?" Here we go!

God is always in our lives whether we choose to recognize it or not. We can't escape His presence-it's everywhere around us. It's in the sky. It's on the ground. It's the breeze blowing through the trees. He's everywhere and it's simply amazing. But what about our unborn children?

1) Do you believe that God is with each child in the womb? Do you believe he was with your baby (babies)?

Psalm 139 tells us that God is with us, even from the very beginning.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹ O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

⁵ You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

A question that has been much debated is "when does life begin?" This question can get people pretty heated. Not too long ago a law was passed in the North Dakota house that pretty much gives the same rights to "all human beings from the beginning of their biological development, including the pre-born, partially born." Boy, oh, boy was there an uproar about it! People were screaming that it would only outlaw abortion and birth control.

2) In your opinion, when does life begin in the womb? Have you ever come across people who don't agree with your opinion? What do you think of this possible law in North Dakota or even nationally?

Life in the womb is amazing. From a single cell we grow and develop. We definitely are fearfully and wonderfully made but by no means perfect.

3) If your child(ren) left you before their birth, how far along were you in your pregnancy? If you child(ren) was born alive, how far along were you when you gave birth? How long were they with you on this earth?

The author shares the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth after being visited by the angel Gabriel. Elizabeth was already 6 months pregnant and upon hearing the voice of Mary the baby in Elizabeth's womb jumped inside her with joy. He shares this to solidify that a life-both physical and spiritual-is present from the beginning. Our babies have a lasting, eternal soul.

4) Do you believe your child(ren) is indeed in Heaven? Does this comfort you? What do you imagine your child(ren) is doing in God's Kingdom?

In the next section, the author spends time with those who have lost a child through abortion. Often, the parent of an aborted child feels like they aren't worthy of forgiveness or that God or their baby couldn't possibly forgive them for the act they committed. It's simply not true. God is very loving and forgiving. There is nothing we can do that God won't forgive us of if we only ask. In God's eyes, one sin is not greater than another. Sin is sin. A child in Heaven does not hold any ill will toward the parent who chose to abort them. Feelings like that simply do not exist in Heaven. I imagine what they feel is purely love.

5) If you've faced an abortion, have you feared God and your child(ren) wouldn't forgive you? Do you know God's loving forgiveness in your heart today? If not, what feelings have kept you from accepting Him? How has God worked in your life? (This last question can certainly be answered by anyone participating.)

6) Did you face any pressures or fears in choosing abortion?

Remember that God loves you very much. He longs to have a close and personal relationship with you. Trust in Him and His will for you today. People and this life may let you down but God's love never fails.