My thoughts on the subject of Birth Control...

Prior to getting married, I thought it important to research different contraceptives and birth control options as Stephen was studying at Western Washington University and I was required to work to help support us. We debated whether to wait to get married until after he was finished with schooling and decided that we could better serve God and each other by getting married sooner even though we would not be living our ideal life, (me being able to stay at home and fulfill my calling as a wife, mother and homemaker, Stephen being able to work full time and be the bread winner, and Stephen having time in the day to devote to myself and our growing family rather than to his studies.) It worked out wonderfully. God blessed us. We grew in many areas and don't regret our decision. God continues to bless us as we are now living our ideal life. All of this to say, we felt it important to abstain from having children until we were ready and able to raise them as we feel God wants us to, with myself, as the mother, devoting my time and energy at home to train and nurture each blessing God gives us.

1. From my research, I came to the conclusion that Abortion is clearly wrong. I believe that life begins at conception. God knows us BEFORE we are formed in the womb. God grows us IN our mother's womb. It was a BABY that leaped in his mother's womb upon being greeted by Mary the mother of Jesus. Need you be further convinced? Do you know when a baby's fingernails develop? Have you heard the heart-beat of a ten week old baby in the womb? Have you felt a baby hiccup at 16 weeks in the womb? Have you seen an ultrasound image of a 20 week old baby? Talk to me if you need further convincing.

Psalm 139:13 For You formed my inward parts;You wove me in my mother's womb.

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,And [Is 49:1, 5; Luke 1:15] before you were born I consecrated you;I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Isaiah 46:3 "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,And all the remnant of the house of Israel,You who have been borne by Me from birth And have been carried from the womb;

Luke 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 1:15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased

2. From my research, I came to the personal decision that a birth control pill or oral contraceptive was not for me. I will not place judgement if you choose to use this method however I will challenge you to seek God, pray and fast and research and make sure you're not making any decisions or choices without being informed. There are two ways that the pill can stop conception and, are therefore, in my opinion, contraceptive and one way that I consider and abortifacient. First, the pill acts to inhibit ovulation. Second, the pill changes the cervical mucus which increases difficulty for sperm to travel to the egg. Third, the pill thins and shrivels the lining of the uterus so that it is unable or less able to facilitate the implantation of the newly fertilized egg. As I believe life begins at conception, which to me is when an egg is fertilized, I personally cannot justify taking a pill with even a slight chance of raising difficulty for a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus. Aside from these items, I personally feel that my body is a temple of God and I should treat it as such. I believe that God created our bodies to work in certain ways and when you chemically mess with that, it may or will have side effects which I don't want. But this is simply a personal choice and opinion.

3. From my research and study of scripture, I don't find it to be a sin to use a non-abortive contraceptive so long as you have sought the Lord in making your decision and are not using contraceptives simply for selfish reasons. I will challenge you once again to seek God in your decision, especially when considering permanent contraceptives as they are very hard to reverse and many people change their minds after making a decision too hastily and have a very hard time conceiving and receiving the gifts which God delights in blessing us with. Stephen and I hope to have several children. We currently feel that we have the ability and desire to do that. So, if God is willing, he will continue to provide and bless us with several children. If for some reason, I have further liver complications and pregnancy puts my body's health on a downward spiral, we have discussed our best option may be adoption and a non-abortive contraceptive may be a blessing to keep me healthy enough to raise these children.

I listened to this talk http://voxpopnetwork.com/vision/2008/01/06/christian-birth-control-options by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church on birth control and found it to be very accurate from what I had personally researched. I would encourage all of you men and women of childbearing age who are married or thinking of marriage soon, to listen to it and come up with your own convictions on the subject as a vast majority or our culture is doing things without knowledge of what they are actually doing.