This past Saturday, twenty-two walkers from Community Lutheran Church participated in the Walk for Life at Kit Carson Park.  Walkers included all ages and represented both our Escondido and San Marcos campuses.  It was a great time for getting to know each other as we walked the beautiful 1.5 mile trail through the park which passes trees, ponds, and playgrounds.  But more than just a fun time outdoors to chat with friends, we came together with a common goal – to support Alternatives Women’s Center.

Alternatives Women’s Center is located in Escondido on the corner of Kalmia and 2^nd St.  They are a non-profit ministry and fully-licensed clinic that offers support to women with unplanned pregnancies by offering pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, truths about adoption and abortion, and facts about sexual health.  All services are free!  When a woman chooses to keep her child, Alternatives will refer them to doctors and parenting classes as well as help provide baby essentials such as clothing and diapers.  For those suffering the pain of past abortions, Alternatives offers post-abortion counseling.  Throughout their ministry, Alternatives always makes it a priority to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod has always believed in the value of human life and has publicly spoken for the lives of unborn children.  We believe that human life begins at conception and is therefore to be protected.  The development of a young human being is a wonder and miracle according to Scripture:

“For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.” – Psalm 139

Every human being is valuable because they are valued by God.  It is therefore the responsibility of Christians to support the lives of the weak and lowly, the unborn and others.  Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”  Christ died for all, without distinguishing between people as far as achievement, personality, ability, wealth, or strength.  Unfortunately, Christians do not always cherish and celebrate every human life.  Unlike our compassionate God, we are fickle and selfish, sometimes placing a higher value on some than on others.  We are blessed to have a forgiving God who will not only overlook our transgressions because of Jesus’ death on the cross, but He continues to help guide us toward those who are less fortunate, lost, and in need of His care!

My husband and I walked with our one-year-old son Jonah at the Walk for Life.  He wasn’t feeling well and wanted to be held for a good deal of the walk!  But what made this year extra-special is that I also had the privilege of walking with the newest addition to our family, a son or daughter who has not yet been born.  At the time of the Walk for Life, I was eleven weeks pregnant, a gestational age at which a baby can still be aborted.  At my last doctor’s appointment, I heard the heartbeat of my child, which had been beating since before I even knew I was pregnant.  I saw my baby’s head and arms and legs, and I learned that my baby was already doing cartwheels inside of me.  My son or daughter already has fingernails, and every organ has been formed!  This kind of information is vital to women making a decision on keeping their unborn child. 

As I walked in the Walk for Life with my growing family, I prayed that women would be informed by science and Scripture as to the value of human life and that God would show us how we can better care for those weaker or less fortunate than ourselves.