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Pro-Life Works: "Before the Morning" May 20, 2010
Josh Wilson's "Before the Morning" Inspires Parents Facing Tough Pregnancies Emily Carney Development Associate
“Would dare you, would you dare, to believe, Christian recording artist Josh Wilson’s Facebook page gives insight into his latest single, “Before the Morning.” (If you have not seen it, check out the video, also on YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0704_oGFX1w.) Wilson’s song traces the story of Tim and Paula Beal, two of Wilson’s good friends who were gifted by God with a child with special needs. Jayken “Jake” David, Tim and Paula’s son, was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLLS) halfway through Paula’s pregnancy. HLLS is a condition in which one of the sides of the heart does not develop fully, and the body is deprived of oxygen rich blood. Due to the child’s seemingly fatal condition, the Beals were told to abort their child. The doctor cited financial reasons, that the cost might strain their marriage, and that their son would have a “poor quality of life.” The diagnosis was dark. Former United States Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania and his wife, Karen, faced a similar struggle with their daughter, Isabella Marie. “Bella,” was born with Trisomy 18, a condition in which the child has an extra chromosome. Despite the fact that doctors expected Bella to die during labor or soon thereafter, as many children do in her condition, Bella survived. Senator Santorum found it challenging to find a doctor who would operate on Bella once she was born because it seemed that the doctors’ believed “her life wasn’t worth saving.” Despite the odds, both Jake and Bella are alive today. Jake is a happy and healthy seven-year-old Texan, and Bella just celebrated her second birthday on the East Coast. Jake, his dad said, even likes to show classmates his scar and tell them “Jesus healed my heart.” “At seven, he [Jake] has a concept of God that I don’t even think I have,” his father said. Bella’s father, Rick Santorum, writes that Bella “makes us better.” Despite the uncertainties, her father wrote in his column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “She is worth every tear.” “Sickness and struggles are not the end of the story for those who know Jesus,” Wilson states, “because we believe in a God who heals; we believe in a God who saves.” Jayken David “means victory and grace through God’s beloved,” and Josh Wilson dedicated “Before the Morning” to him. http://apps.facebook.com/joshwilson/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0704_oGFX1w |
