Daily Archives: July 7, 2006

When I wrote the previous post, I had not read this post at Boar's Head Tavern. Michael Spencer (Internet Monk) and his family have said goodbye to his mother, until eternity. Please join us in prayer.

At the other end of life, I post once in a while about Alicia. Last Saturday Alicia was 12 weeks old; weighing in at 3 lbs. 2 oz. Only 1 lb. 4 oz when she was born, yesterday Alicia was nursing for the first time - and doing quite well at it!

2 Comments

I've lived through a couple of "end of life" family decisions. All of the "really right" Christians say "you can't do that." It's not only those who have never lived through watching somebody die in pain - some have, some haven't.I have a hard time coming to a "hard and fast", "black and white", "one-size-fits-all" conclusion - all I can do is tell my story.

I believe that God is sovereign and is in control of our lives and our deaths. I also believe that sometimes God wants us to do something, other times it's okay to make the choice whether or not to do something.

There are a lot of circumstances that could lead to "end of life" decisions. I've been involved in the process of three.

Sometimes all that can be done has been done. Life has been prolonged medically far beyond what would have been natural. The loved one has endured biopsies, surgeries, chemo, radiation. And now they are down to the pain. They want to say the final goodbyes and be gone.

Sometimes there is no reasonable medical hope for survival and the loved one opts for no treatment. Or, in the case of a child, the parents choose to do nothing rather than something. I read a blog a few days ago written by the parents of twins born too soon - just a shade over a pound. Their children died in their arms.

Sometimes we just get lazy or frightened and "jump the gun", and lose out on a part of life that sometimes holds great treasure.

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