In case you didn’t see this, from our own Marc Hays:

DOWN SYNDROME: GOD’S GIFT TO THE WORLD

This past week, a prominent YouTuber announced that he and his wife had decided to “terminate their pregnancy” because they found out that the baby would likely have Down Syndrome. As the father of a young man with Down Syndrome, I’d like to take a moment to comment.

First, abortion is murder no matter the physical or genetic condition of the baby. If the baby is alive, then there ought to be a delivery, making every attempt to preserve that life, no matter the prospective difficulties that the child and/or the parents may face.

Second, the world needs more people with an extra 21st chromosome, not fewer. Have you, dear reader, ever met someone with Down syndrome? Were you sad or happy that you did? If you really know one, do you want to imagine a world without them?

When Alan, my son with a designer chromosome, was born, he had a hole in his heart that was too large to close naturally. He weighed only 3.7 pounds and the doctors wanted us to get him up to 6 pounds before the surgery, as the success rate at 6 pounds was drastically higher than the one at 3.7. Alan ate, Alan grew, Alan reached 6 pounds, and he received a successful heart surgery. Outside of that single major medical event, he has been the healthiest of my 6 children. The rest of the family would all come down with whatever “bug” was passing through, yet Alan usually remained healthy and strong. He got sick around 20% of the times the rest of us did.

(Continued at: https://www.kings-mill.com/blog/down-syndrome-gods-gift-to-the-world)

It’s Springtime and the world is bursting forth with life, color, and song. The birds and Robins are out in force, the rabbits are making hay, and the variations of creation’s green is approaching infinite. It’s all a very enjoyable season, delightful to the eyes, ears, skin, and even most people’s noses.

But is it ok to enjoy all this bursting of creation? Is it right to rejoice and splish-splash in all the flowers and grasses and fruits and streams of spring? Is it ok to revel in the fun of watching my dog splash through the six-inch deep water of the HOA’s retention pond, acting like she’s some 6 month old puppy, flipping left and right and hopping up and down and showering herself with showers of liquid rainbow light?

Jesus says it is: “…and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart” (Psalm 104:15). Wine and oil and bread could have just been medicinal; but Jesus broadens their blessings into the realm of joy and satiation and beauty.

The other JC agrees. In his chapter on The Right Use of the Present Life (Institutes, Book III), and under the section Earthly Things are Gifts of God, Calvin says: “Should the Lord have attracted our eyes to the beauty of the flowers, and our sense of smell to pleasant odors, and should it then be sin to drink them in?

“Has he not even made the colors so that the one is more wonderful than the other? Has he not granted to gold and silver, to ivory and marble a beauty which makes them more precious than other metals and stones?

“In one word, has he not made many things worth our attention that go far beyond our needs?” Like the Chinese waiter always says, “Enjoy!”

When Christians read about the fall of Adam, they don’t realize that the serpent was sent as an angel to help minister and mature Adam and Eve (Hebrews 1:14). Eve’s response demonstrates a level of maturity about his question, as she responds that they may not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle, nor touch it. At this point Satan chooses to rebel against God, and falls, and attempts to gain control of God’s newly created world, replying, “You will surely not die.”

But what else Christians don’t realize as well is that Adam is standing there during this conversation (3:6b), and he fails to do his duty: guard the garden. Protect it from invaders or danger or attack. Satan contradicts the word of God, and Adam should have acted to defend his bride and the garden. But he doesn’t.

Now fast forward 4000 years, and when the Second Adam is in the garden, and Satan enters it in the personage of Judas to spoil it and win the new world order, acting craftily with a betraying kiss and a pleasant greeting, Jesus defends the garden and his bride. He steps forward and says “Whom do you seek?” and “I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go” (John 18:5–8). Jesus defended his bride, the eleven disciples. He guarded the garden, giving up himself for the bride.

So remember that Jesus is always guarding you, his bride, and has been doing so all your life. And he’s been guarding all the believers around you, all their lives. He loves his bride, he loves you, and he moves to protect you in ways you can’t even imagine. He guards you for good, 24/7/till death. Be grateful by giving thanks that you don’t just have a guardian angel, but a Guardian Lord!