The words struck our hearts in such a vicious way. Terminate—or abort—our baby? Stephanie and I looked him in the eye and said emphatically, “No. Not an option.” In that moment, the doctor took on a much colder, agitated demeanor and simply said, “Then there is nothing else I can help you with today.” And he walked out.

Graduations always bring about a complete swell of emotions. And it doesn’t matter the kind of graduation—your own graduation from high school or college or watching someone else celebrate their graduation accomplishment. It simply is difficult not to get caught up in the emotion of the journey that is fulfilled in graduation.

On Dec. 18, 2020, our daughter Cassidy experienced the very rewarding tradition of the “pinning ceremony” for graduates from the Nursing School of the University of Louisiana, Monroe. The next day she would graduate from the university. Stephanie and I are so proud to see Cassidy become a nurse. She has wanted to achieve this goal since she was in elementary school.

So, as we watched our daughter—our first child—graduate from college, there was a flood of memories and emotions that filled our hearts. We remembered moving her into her small dorm room on campus. We remember crying as we said goodbye when leaving her on a new college campus. We remembered the ballgames and the pressures of her studies she fought to achieve. We remembered meeting her boyfriend Nate for the first time, and we remembered when they got engaged and ultimately married while still in college.

All of these emotions and memories rose to the surface. But later in the day of her pinning ceremony, I was struck that what we were really witnessing was a journey of faith that has now come full circle. A faith journey that began weeks after Stephanie and I found out she was pregnant with Cassidy.

As any new parents are when they discover they are expecting a child, we were excited and nervous all at the same time. It was 1997, and I was in seminary preparing for a life of full-time pastoral ministry. Stephanie was working at a nursing home as a physical therapy assistant. We had prayed for a child and believed God to be the giver of all life. We thanked God together for allowing Stephanie to become pregnant. We knew then—and still know now—that every child is a gift from God.

And as we visited the doctor for the first time, we continued to be excited knowing that this precious life that was developing inside of Stephanie was growing and growing. But it was at the second visit with our doctor that our faith would be tested in a way neither of us had ever experienced before.

At about 12 weeks into the pregnancy, we arrived at the second appointment with our doctor. The radiology technician was looking and listening to the baby on a monitor. We could tell that she began to appear concerned. We asked her what she was seeing. What was so concerning? She said that the doctor would need to be the one to talk with us.

Obviously, this was quite unsettling to hear, and our thoughts were going to a million different places. We were then taken to a smaller room where the doctor would come visit with us. As the doctor walked into the room, we sensed a warm demeanor. He showed us what he was seeing on our baby’s ultrasound. He pointed out two areas on the brain of the baby. It was amazing how much detail we could see.

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