The rights of the Innocent.

On January 25, 2013, Americans will gather in our nation’s capital to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. To me this means that nearly 55 million of our most innocent have perished. I do not know what kind of people could celebrate let alone tolerate this

. Many say that it is about the rights of a woman regarding her own body. They say that all women deserve the right to rule what happens to and inside of their bodies. They see abortion as a means of control over their own bodies. But what about the babies they are severing from a chance at life. Shouldn't a fetal female also be allowed to live and grow and not have her body brutally mutilated and her life ended. Do the rights of women only start at birth, or is it at puberty or when a women becomes sexually active?

 I think it is great that women can now vote and have the respect in many aspects of society that we deserve, but I think that everyone's “right” should end when the rights of another begin. In the United States of America we are promised Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Why do we then take the lives of innocent soon to be born babies and deny them the right to all of the above. When a baby is conceived, it is alive. I have seen many ultrasounds of babies who are living, moving and awaiting their chance in the world. From personal experience, I KNOW that babies in the womb are not a condition, but are life in it's most innocent form..

 After carrying a baby for 4 and 1/2 months, we learned that our baby had died. I had to go through a painful delivery of the deceased fetus. Although the baby was not fully formed and was not a bouncing, breathing baby, it was a human being and if the little heart of that baby had continued to beat it would now be running around with my other children. No one can tell me that a pregnancy is a growth or a medical diagnosis, it means that you have the privilege of hosting another human being for a short time and allowing it to experience life.

 It is inconceivable to me that a woman would choose to end the life of another human being for her own convenience, comfort or character preservation. Especially when there are so many who lovingly long for a baby and are not given the privilege of parenthood. It is even more inconceivable that any government would deem it acceptable to tax those who believe that abortion is wrong to pay for abortions for those who feel it is somehow acceptable. Our government has also paid for many abortions in other nations. Are we trying to ease our own guilt by spreading the stain of abortion to other countries?

 My favorite scripture is in Isaiah. It seems to fit this topic: Can a woman forget her sucking child and have not compassion on the son of her womb. Yea, they may forget, but I will not forget you, for I have graven you on the palms of my hands. I think that Jesus chose the most loving image that he could imagine, that of a mother, to try to teach us about his love for us. I salute those mothers in this world who continue to have this love and allow their children to live and become the full grown children of God that they are.

 When our daughter delivered our first grandchild. I was amazed at the security measures including a nurse guard, locked doors, and other procedures that protected the babies at the hospital. The mothers were not allowed to leave the hospital until they had completed a battery of educational classes to make sure they were mentally capable of caring for their new child. Yet.... a woman can walk into a clinic and dispose of her unborn child in the name of convenience and selfishness. Where are the guards and the doors and the education protecting those children? Why do we protect some and neglect others? Why do nurses rush around to save one child struggling for breath in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and turn a blind eye when another child of the same age is simply left to die in a medical trash receptacle. I honestly don't get it.

 Abortion has been legal most of my life. I am grateful that I was allowed to live. I think that I owe something to those who are not as fortunate. As long as we are trying to make everything fair by spreading around the wealth and giving everyone a fair shot, let’s dedicate some of the life that we have been granted to rescue those who are not getting a shot a life. When Mother Theresa visited America a few years ago, her biggest concern was our toleration for abortion. Prophets have warned us for ages against the horror of abortion. For 40 years we have allowed an evil to rage within our borders. It is time to take a stand and stand up for those innocent ones who would be among us.

One Nation under Condemnation

There seems to be a pretty strong correlation between our nation’s departure from God-given traditional values and the condition of our nation. When you read scriptures you don’t have to turn too many pages to get the message that if we are good, we will be blessed. The problem is that we as a nation as a whole are not being good. Of course there are many people who are striving to do their best to follow God and His commandments, but there are also a growing number of people who don’t believe or have the desire to keep the commandments of God. As a result our laws have changed, our values are eroding, and our nation is in big trouble. In the past few years our nation has legalized abortion and now our tax dollars pay for abortion, teenage contraception and even abortions in other countries. At this sad place in history, 40% of all babies born in our country are born without a father in their home. Our country is encouraging the abandonment of children by providing ample support to those who are fatherless. We, as a society, are trying to compensate by meeting physical needs when what the children really need is a parent. We not only have citizens who demand their right to live a life of immorality,, but they expect those few who pay federal taxes to fund their immoral fun. We as a nation are more tolerant of homosexuality than ever before. We are not allowed to call it wrong without being labeled an “intolerant bigot.” Even when there are many people who believe that acting on homosexual impulses is in the same category as child molestation and other perverse acts, they are silenced by our society’s acceptance of the gay moment. We have more drug and alcohol abuse, more corporate and personal dishonesty and greed, more blatant pornography and lewdness, more personal and governmental debt and a total loss of control in government and in American households. Can a day go by when we are not infested with more annoying emails trying to scam us? Do we feel that our children are more safe from child predators than in past years? At the same time, in almost perfect synchronization, we are seeing more fires, floods, earthquakes and many other natural disasters. There is more unrest in society, and more economic distress than we have in many, many years. Innocent people may be made to suffer because guilty people won’t abandon their wickedness. Although it is impossible to document for a certainty that our nation’s departure from being good is causing the bad, it sure seems to fit nicely into the many patterns of destruction played out historically on the Earth when the people turn away from their maker and made fun of sacred things. Perhaps we can’t put all the blame for the condition of our nation on our government leaders. Perhaps there is some truth in the fact that when we distance ourselves from God, He withholds blessings from us. Perhaps we are feeling the condemnation that comes when we abandon truth and righteousness. If we really want to witness hope and change, we as a nation are going to have to hope and change. The real future of our nation does not only lie with the actions and decisions of politicians, but with the actions and decisions of each and every citizen. It is time to be good so that American can once again be great. Christy Hinkson

Motherhood-The Greatest Work

Motherhood—the Greatest Work

The debate is back with some people questioning the value of the role of stay-at-home mothers. It is amazing that anyone would actually think that mothers who do not leave their homes to join the workforce are not working. As a mother of 10 children and the grandmother of 4, I would like to invite anyone who holds this belief to come to my house and follow me around for a day. Children enter this world through a process called "labor" and the work associated with motherhood is never done. Each and every mother in this world works and works hard.

By watching a mother at work you can witness what she does for her family physically, but it is impossible to witness the enormous impact that a mother has on the world now and forever. I dare anyone to find any job on Earth that is more important and has a more lasting effect on humankind than mothers do. Governments rise and fall, companies come and go, celebrities leave superficial impressions but no one can shape and influence another human like a mother can. Women do many kinds of work and make lasting contributions to the world, but any contribution pales in insignifigance when compared to the impact of what she does as a good mother.

Sometimes mothers doubt their ability to impact because motherhood is available to so many. This responsibility is given by God to so many, because it is SO important. Every hero that has entered this world came the same way, tiny, fragile and placed by God into the arms of a mother. Mothers teach and influence their children in a very personal way, who in turn teach and influence others, who teach and influence many others and on and on and on. All that is good and right in this world can be traced back to the influence of somebody's mother.

While I was in college, I wrote a simple song and now, 25 years later, I still believe every word of it. I will include the lyrics below. Our daughter, Heather, now the mother of 2, recorded the song. A free download is available at this link:

http://www.heartrisemusic.com/Downloads/Music/07%20The%20Greatest%20Work.mp3

The Greatest Work
The Greatest Work that I will ever do, will be in my own Home
I want to live in a way that I can give and make my potential known.
The greatest thing that I will ever do, I know inside will be
To live my life as a mother and a wife and raise a family.
The greatest work, the greatest thing, now is clearly in my view
I may reach heights unknown, but I know that in my home,
Is the greatest work that I will ever do.
Christy Hinkson

What about Abstinence? It is Free and Freeing.

What about Abstinence? It is Free and Freeing.

With the contraception debate brewing and boiling over, I have to ask: What about Abstinence? Why does anyone have to pay for birth control at all? Why do people laugh and think it is impossible to keep sexual relations within the bonds of marriage. What about all the people in the world who manage to control themselves and refrain from sex until they are married. There are millions of people all over the world who do this and have lived to tell about it. I also believe that those who abstain before marriage are in a better position to speak about “women’s health” than those who are having sex with multiple partners and using birth control, which has historically caused several women’s health issues.

I practiced abstinence and so did my husband. Our children and their spouses have also abstained until they married. I attended a prestigious private University where people were expected to live by an honor code and if they had sex outside of marriage while they were students they faced being dismissed as students from the university. What a great opportunity to go to school where the focus was actually on academics.

Choosing to be “morally clean” was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. Here are some of the stresses in life that I now do not have to worry about now because I was not prematurely sexually active:

1. I don’t have to worry that I will get a sexually transmitted disease.

2. I don’t have to worry that I will be as tempted to succumb to breaking this law as an adult. If I can survive the raging hormone time of youth, I am well on my way to living a pure life.

3. I don’t have to worry that I will have an unwanted pregnancy outside the bonds of marriage.

4. I don’t have to worry that anyone will ask me to consider having an abortion or giving a child up for adoption.

5. I don’t have to worry that there will be a child somewhere that I gave birth to and have not been able to raise.

6. I don’t have to worry that I have near as high of a chance of developing cervical cancer that is significantly linked to having multiple sex partners.

7. I don’t have to worry that my husband married me because he “had to.”

8. I don’t have to worry that I will run into old partners and be embarrassed.

9. I don’t have to worry that I will ever think about other partners that I was immoral with.

10. I don’t have to worry that God will be disappointed with my choices.

Practicing abstinence is not only free, but it is freeing. It may cause some people a little stress to practice abstinence but look at all the stress you are able to live without later.

Christy Hinkson