Inspirational Story

[KempoGuy06]

I got this in an email today and thought id share it with the good people here at MT. It makes you take a step back and think.

Pam knows about the pain of considering abortion.




More than 21 years ago, she and her husband, Bob, were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in a contaminated food or drink. She entered into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted.
The doctors "didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue," Pam said.
While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband, "If you will give us a son, we'll name him 'Timothy,' and we'll make him a preacher."


Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and, eventually, gave birth to a health baby boy August 14, 1987.


Pam's youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines.
He also plays football. Pam's son is Tim Tebow.
Last year, the University of Florida's star quarterback, became the first sophomore in history to win college football's highest award, the Heisman Trophy. Tim's fame and the family's inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women's centers across the country.

B
​

 

[shesulsa]

It's great that she got what she prayed for. I wonder what she would have done if she hadn't.

 

[arnisador]

Good for her for sticking to her beliefs. I'm glad it worked out happily for her.

 

[tellner]

Agree, SheSulsa. Plenty of good Christian women pray for easy deliveries and healthy babies and don't get them. They don't get an "inspirational" way out that lets writers of anonymous letters say "See! If you just hope and wish hard enough it will all turn out alright."

Some women are forced to make difficult choices. Their stories don't get passed around as feel-good messages.

 

[Brian King]

Shesulsa wrote

“I wonder what she would have done if she hadn't.”

On a light note- I guess she may have then named her daughter Tim or perhaps Tammy or some such On a more serious note- I am guessing that she would have loved her son Tim even if he had been born disabled. What mother wouldn’t?

Tellner wrote:

Agree, SheSulsa. Plenty of good Christian women pray for easy deliveries and healthy babies and don't get them. They don't get an "inspirational" way out that lets writers of anonymous letters say "See! If you just hope and wish hard enough it will all turn out alright."

Some women are forced to make difficult choices. Their stories don't get passed around as feel-good messages.

Mothers and Fathers brothers and sisters (of all religions) often pray for things that seem to go unanswered. As a Christian it is usually realized that not all prayers are answered in ways that we can easily understand but all prayers are heard. Most Christians know that life is difficult and that we will be tested over and over. Asking for an easy life is not something worth asking for nor desired. You may not have read many as you put “inspirational” stories Tellner but I have, both from women and families that chose the abortion route and those that did not. I have also had the opportunity to meet some disabled children and adults as well as their families. Their stories are very inspirational to me and to others. There is a cost to both routes. With one there is a small financial cost and perhaps a huge emotional toll. So many relationships fail after abortions and the mother will have to live with the fact that she killed her baby even if at the time she considered it nothing more than a blob of flesh. With the other one you are out time and will have emotional and financial hardships. One route costs society even if it is ‘easy’ and one route adds to society even if it is ‘difficult’.

I think that we can agree that many take the abortion route as a convenience; many use abortions to make their lives simpler or as a means of avoiding hardships caused by poor decision making. Now with medical testing available many have to come to the decision whether to continue a pregnancy or to terminate the life with-in that testes positive for Downs’s syndrome or some other disability. People judge those parents harshly (I think unfairly) for deciding to carry to term their baby even in the face of certain knowledge that their baby is deformed disabled or some other ‘negative’ factor.

I can not speak for all or even for some but only for myself. I have met some children who are mentally disabled. They were warm and loving and always seemed to be smiling. You can ask them how they are doing and they answer “I fine” even from the hospital bed. I have friends and students who have different disabilities and all are living life and I doubt many or even any would wish that they had been aborted rather than facing life as they are. The parents I have talked with love their children and learn a great deal from them and almost to a one they would not switch their circumstances. The love that these children show to their parents and that the parents show to their children is truly awe inspiring.

I have learned that being disabled both physical and mental does not mean worthless despite our society saying differently. The disabled have a value and a gift. They do not want our sympathy or empathy but want a chance to live and to try.

We should be thankful for every ‘easy’ (easy says the boy lol) birth and every healthy baby but we should also be careful about deeming those that do not meet the standards as worthless and throwaways. It leads to a cheapening of the value of life. I wonder for those that have no problem at all with aborting the disabled if they would have a problem aborting those babies that test as likely to be over weight, or those that have dark hair or those with brown eyes for those reasons alone? I fear that many would not and that soon society will say that not only is it OK but that it will become the norm.

Regards
Brian King

 

[RandomPhantom700]

This has gone from being a forum thread for discussion to a sermon from on high. Be advised all.

 

[elder999]

We should be thankful for every ‘easy’ (easy says the boy lol) birth and every healthy baby but we should also be careful about deeming those that do not meet the standards as worthless and throwaways. It leads to a cheapening of the value of life. I wonder for those that have no problem at all with aborting the disabled if they would have a problem aborting those babies that test as likely to be over weight, or those that have dark hair or those with brown eyes for those reasons alone? I fear that many would not and that soon society will say that not only is it OK but that it will become the norm.

Regards
Brian King

We should also be thankful that we live in a society where women have the choice to have such a procedure in a legal, sanitary manner, whatever the "reasons," and pray that they choose wisely for themselves.

 

[Sukerkin]

I have to say that that is an inspirational story and that, like many such tales, people will take from it what they need or believe.

Some will see it as proof of the power of prayer or even that the gods directly intervene in human existence. For me, I see a woman who rolled the dice on the strength of her beliefs and got lucky (or had doctors who gave her bad advice to start with). Her determination got what most of us would see as a 'fair' reward but none of us would have been surprised if the gamble had gone sour - that's what life is like, with people seldom getting what is just.

What is wrong is taking that story and turning it into a anti-abortion stick to beat woman-kind into dogmatic submission. As long as people don't do that, then, as I said in opening, people will take from the story what speaks to their needs.

 

[Brian King]

Elder999 wrote

We should also be thankful that we live in a society where women have the choice to have such a procedure in a legal, sanitary manner, whatever the "reasons,".

+1 As a bastard I am thankful that I live in a society that neither forces or requires abortion nor makes it completely illegal. I do think that there should be some restrictions placed on some procedures and some notifications for parents of minors and that those should be decided at the state level not the federal level.

“and pray that they choose wisely for themselves.”

I do pray for wisdom and strength for the women that are for whatever reason considering abortion elder999, I not only pray for the wisdom to chose wisely ‘for themselves’ but also wisely for their child and wisely for the father who has no say one way or the other, for the extended family that may receive or be denied a new part of the family.

Regards
Brian King

 

[Brian King]

Sukerkin wrote:

“What is wrong is taking that story and turning it into a anti-abortion stick to beat woman-kind into dogmatic submission”

I do not see a stick here sir. A stick might be showing a link to an abortion gone wrong (for either side of the debate) showing pictures of babies aborted at the different terms of the pregnancies illustrating their development. A stick could be telling women that abortion is a simple procedure much like having an infected toenail removed and that they will not suffer any consequences physical or emotional. A stick might be the justifications to have requirements to abort babies that do not meet a certain standards. Some see a piece of flesh that may turn out to be a disabled human and think that throwing out that piece of flesh is the right and humane thing to do. I do not and will state so in as even and understanding tone as I am able. I see that piece of flesh as a human and no matter how disabled they have something to contribute to our societies.

So far in this discussion I do not see a stick being wielded, merely a story and some questions asked and statements offered and my attempting to give my opinionated answers and replies to those questions and statements. I am willing to concede that your seeing a stick wielded might say something about my style of writing or my opinion and the way that I state it, I will as you know reflect on this. I might come to the conclusion to try to soften my approach but I might also come to the conclusion that seeing a stick in a stick free hand might be a reflection on the one seeing the stick

Regards my friend
Brian King

 

[Sukerkin]

I think you mistake my intent if you took that line of mine to be directed at yourself, Brian. I can assure you that that was not the case.

I also agree that there is no explicit 'stick' in the mail that prompted the OP. There is, however, quite a hefty implicit 'message' that lies in the background that I'm sure some would hear.

 

[seasoned]

Bottom line, in life there are winners, and there are losers. If it is a viable healthy pregnancy, ended out of convenience, because of a young and immature female, not receiving the pros and cons of that decision, she may well have to come to grips with that decision later in life. I have heard that the guilt feelings later in life are unbearable. I have also read stories of people who make a decision to take an unwanted pregnancy to full term, and was emotionally gratified years later. But the fact of the matter is, I have never read or heard anyone say, “I am so glad I got rid of that pregnancy, best thing I ever did”. Everyone reading this thread is a product of a pregnancy gone right, and that is because there are no other voices to be heard. It is great to advocate for other people, when we ourselves, are not involved with that situation. Lets hear from someone in this forum, that can step up to the plate, and admit to an abortion, and tell us how great it was. The best thing to do is pray that you never have to make that decision, and if you do have to, pray that it is the right one. There are no religious over tones or under tones, other then the praying part I mentioned. But there are definitely emotional scars that can last a life time.

 

[Brian King]

Sukerkin wrote:

“I think you mistake my intent if you took that line of mine to be directed at yourself, Brian. I can assure you that that was not the case.”

Ah so sorry I did take your post as a reply to me and my post. LOL I have misunderstood both your and Tez3’s posts before as you often combine replies, opinions and views without separating them. We have ‘spoken’ before about this on different threads and I understand it is a British thing but dang if I will ever get a handle on it.

"There is, however, quite a hefty implicit 'message' that lies in the background that I'm sure some would hear. "

There are lots of messages worthy of hearing. I do not see speaking them or ignoring them as necessarily a bad thing. Censoring one view on the other hand-

Brian