Harder Family

Harder Family

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Life is Precious

Psalm 139:13-16 "For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

Jeremiah 1:4, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'" 

Galatians 1:15, "But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace. . . ."

Deuteronomy 30:15-20, "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase , and the Lord your God will bless you in the land your are entering to possess. . . .This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life..."

Life is precious. When you or a loved one faces a terminal illness, you realize just how precious life is here on earth. When we see death it breaks our heart. Recently, five precious lives were taken in Chattanooga by a terrorist. We all mourn with the families who lost loved ones in this tragic event. Lives that are just beginning are taken from earth. A young girl in Michigan, just five years old, is on her death bed from inoperable brain cancer. I look at my little girls and I can't imagine the heart ache those parents are facing. Another example is Emily Beazley, a local girl who passed away at the age of 12 from a four year battle with cancer. She was Abigail's age. Again, I can't imagine what her parents are experiencing. Death is horrible and so we celebrate life.


Hearing news like the ones above make me enjoy every hug from my girls. Seeing them laugh and play with friends brings joy to my heart. 

Life is precious...we also celebrate long life. We recently visited a sweet friend in Wheaton who was a missionary in Japan for 45 years. Marion Hovey is one of the most amazing women I've ever met. She is 93 years old! She broke her wrist last week so we wanted to go visit her and see how she is doing. Sophia helped me make Chichidango (a form of mochi-a dessert from Japan) for Ms. Hovey. It was wonderful, as always, to see Marion and catch up. 93 years...wow! There is a life worth celebrating!! Life is precious..we celebrate the elderly.


Marion Hovey


Marion Hovey and the girls


Tea party/lunch with Ms. Hovey

Life is precious...Wayne is celebrating five months since his diagnosis of brain cancer. Every day is special because life is precious. Below is a picture of Wayne and his good friend Troy. We celebrate life because it is a gift and is precious. All of us should celebrate every day that God gives us breath here on earth. We should live our lives to the fullest for God since none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.


Life is precious...or is life a choice? We celebrate life in all the above examples - young lives, mourning young lives being taken from cancer, longevity of life in the elderly, adults with cancer, and lives in general. But what about this life?



We redefine this life to be a choice. I have a friend who works in a neonatal unit where they fight for young babies born early. Down the hall in the same hospital, the same gestation baby (or fetus they are called) is aborted. The only difference between the baby being fought for in one unit and the "fetus" being aborted in the other unit is being wanted. One child is desired and wanted by the parents, the other is considered a burden and is unwanted. Is this how we want to define life? Unless you live under a rock, I am sure you have seen the recent video clips of Planned Parenthood executives talking about abortions. I don't want to start an argument, I just want to get us to think beyond "left" vs "right" arguments. If the "fetus" is life enough to provide life to others, then it is a life and we should fight for these precious little ones. Watching the clips made me sick to my stomach...and anyone who values life should be sick. We can't say we support life and in another breath say taking a life because it is an inconvenience or is unwanted. Yes, I know some of you may argue...but what about all the women who are raped or their lives are in danger? I'd ask you to show me what percentage of abortions are due to those two extreme examples? We have bought into society's lies that these precious little lives are just clumps of tissue and a "fetus". May God forgive us for the many lives that have been taken in our country and around the world if we don't stand up and defend these defenseless children. 1.3 million precious lives are aborted in the United States each year. That is around 3,500 a day or 2.5 babies every minute losing their life. Wayne used to say this, "What do you call a botched abortion? A baby."

If we are going to be proponents of life, we need to fight for ALL lives. My mom has always been a great writer, especially of poems. I remember watching her write poems about a sermon we heard in church and being amazed at how poetry just flowed out of her. Ask me to write a poem and you'll get something lame like "Roses are Red". My mom wrote a beautiful poem today about this very issue of life and gave me permission to share it here.


We call her just a fetus
Hidden in the womb,
Our country takes that safety
And turns it to a tomb.
We lie to pregnant women,
And say it is a “choice”
But who will speak for babies
And give their cry a voice?
We say a law decided
And gives us moral ground,
To take that little baby,
And sell her parts around . . .
To labs and other sources
To test, to use ¬– destroy,
They kill the little baby
In order to employ . . . what
Others call a “harvest”
When really it’s just death,
By womb-site execution
Before she takes a breath.
The Nazis were inhuman
In what they did to others,
And now we give ascent to
What is done to babes and mothers.
Oh cry out wicked nation,
Cry out and repent,
Before your time is over
Your blessings are all spent.
Please SEE these little babies,
They’re crushed and torn apart,
Cry out for the children,
And see them with your heart.
And stop this “choice” for women
That’s really genocide,
Of tiny little babies
Who have nowhere to hide.
Oh cry out, cry out people,
For this abomination,
And pray for what’s been done.
By us and by our Nation.
Jannetje Anita Thomas 7/22/15


“Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter. Oh hold them back. If you say, “See, we did not know this”, Does He not consider it who weights the hearts? And does He not render to man according to his work? Proverbs 24:11-12

Here are pictures of my beautiful daughters that once were life within my womb. Precious gifts from God that bring my heart joy. May we celebrate and protect life, all life!!


Picking fresh blueberries on our way to Deep River Waterpark









Deep River Waterpark - 7/21/15































2 comments:

  1. It is so important to celebrate life: of our family members, friends, and the unborn. I take care of these tiny babies in the NICU every day. I see them as the precious, individuals that they are. So unique and amazing little lives. It breaks my heart to know that so many unborn are not fought for and protected. Thanks for your post. I especially liked your moms poem! Beautiful and so true.

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