The Miracle of Life

(I wrote most of this devotional back in April and finished it today.)

Psalm 139:13-14, "For you formed my inner 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."

I've written this verse out over a hundred times. At one point in my life, I was making baby booties for the pregnancy center, and attached to each pair of booties was a card with this verse on it. It's always been a powerful verse, but today it holds extra importance in my heart.

When I wrote out this verse on all those cards, I was in a different season in life. I was very much writing out this verse with the intention of hoping what it says would penetrate to the heart of those mothers facing an unplanned pregnancy. However, today this verse is much more personal to me... not because of an unplanned pregnancy but rather because of a wanted pregnancy that I can't manage to possess.

My husband and I got married just under three months ago. When we were still engaged, we joked with one another by saying, "Nine months!" In our fantasy world where getting pregnant is instantaneous, we thought for sure that nine months after the wedding we'd be bringing another Hoisington into the world.

I thought we had a high probability of instant conception. I had my husband convinced that we were pregnant. In fact, I was so convinced myself that even my physical body was confused. To our disappointment, we were wrong. I was not pregnant.

My devotional "When the Results Aren't What You Wanted" shared more on that whole process, but since that time, I've been doing more and more research on pregnancy, and the information I've found has been astonishing!

These are the percentages I found according to www.babycenter.com for how long it takes most couples trying to have a baby to conceive:

• 30 percent get pregnant within the first cycle (about one month)
• 59 percent get pregnant within three cycles (about three months)
• 80 percent get pregnant within six cycles (about six months)
• 85 percent get pregnant within 12 cycles (about one year)
• 91 percent get pregnant within 36 cycles (about three years)
• 93 to 95 percent get pregnant within 48 cycles (about four years)

Another bit of information I discovered is that a woman can only get pregnant a few days out of the month. People will tell you anywhere from 3 to 6 days depending who you ask.

Lastly, there are millions of sperm fighting to fertilize that egg to make a baby and only one successfully does. If a different sperm would've made it, you would've had a totally different baby. The baby you have is not an accident.

There's a lot more scientific information concerning pregnancy that I'm not going to go into in this devotional, but if you really want to research it, you'd be amazed. Basically to sum it all up, life is a miracle.

What I've found in this journey of wanting to have a baby is that no baby is an accident. There are not "mistake" babies. Perhaps the parents weren't planning on conceiving, but I can guarantee that God was not surprised by that pregnancy.

Whatever your view on when life begins, I encourage you to take a good look at Psalm 139:13-14. Memorize it. Think about it often... and realize that the God of the universe formed your inner parts and knitted you together in your mother's womb. You are fearfully and wonderfully made! You're not an accident. Praise God that He put so much thought into forming you.

Dear Jesus,

As I've been longing for a baby, You've been showing me all the more that life is not an accident. Life is given by You and You alone. Just as much as I cannot control how long it takes me to conceive, I know that when I do conceive, that will not be by my own doing but rather by Your own hand. I pray, Lord, that life will be valued in our nation again. Open our eyes to see that we are created in Your image and to understand that nobody's life is a "mistake". In Jesus' Name.

Amen.