Abortion is frequently a matter of convenience. But what happens when children become inconvenient? Does the wish to make the problem go away ever stop?
When Lisa Smiley’s doctor recommended the abortion of her son, Zeke, due to a rare heart defect, she refused. But when Zeke suffered setbacks as a boy, his doctors again advised ending his life.
“They advised us to put him in a medical home to pass away within a few weeks or months….they thought his brain and his organs were going to shut down.”
Again, Lisa and her husband refused, and chose life for their son.
“We said, no. He belongs with us. We’re going to care for him in our home with his brother and sister. That’s what we did; we took him home against the doctor’s recommendations.”
Lisa and her husband’s radical and inconvenient commitment to their son would change their lives, and his.
“We started intense daily physical, speech, and occupational therapy with him. And, over the course of two years, before he passed away last year, he started walking, he started eating and drinking, and it just blew the doctor’s minds…”
Needing 24-hour nursing care, Zeke became the focus for Lisa and her husband.
“I had just given birth to our third baby, and so it was just a very trying time. My husband took months off of work to help him to rehab, just not knowing what the future held. I mean, it could have been the case that he did pass away a few months after that, and so we wanted every chance we could have with him….it definitely took an emotional toll on our family.”
Pouring into Zeke’s life, something new emerged for Lisa’s family through the experience of caring for him, beyond the challenges it presented.
“For me and my husband, it was definitely a journey of faith and just wrestling with God and just crying out to him to heal Zeke and to hear us. Those are the kinds of experiences that draw us closer to God.”
Choosing faith is rarely convenient. But Lisa’s family saw it transform all of their lives.
“Looking back, it was our darkest hour to seek our son, Zeke, go through this. Yet, God was with us, and we saw Zeke come back to life.
“You can focus on all the negative things that happen. But, you know, even in his death, we chose to celebrate his life. And we saw the victories despite the setbacks, and despite what the doctors said would happen.”
Lisa Smiley is a pro-life blogger and speaker at Bound4LIFE International. Her articles have been featured in The National Review, The Federalist, The Christian Post, and Charisma News. Lisa recently gained recognition for her viral video, Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice: It’s A Baby on her website.
A choice of faith over convenience
