From the Raleigh [NC] News & Observer and WTVD, the ABC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, extended features on Tricia Lawrenson and her husband Nathan. Tricia has cystic fibrosis; the couple are evangelical Christians. Their story is framed as a journey of religious faith and triumph over adversity. Tricia had been scheduled to get a double lung transplant when she learned she was pregnant. Doctors took her off the transplant list and advised that the pregnancy would jeopardize her chances for survival; some counseled abortion, which the couple declined.

As committed evangelicals, the Lawrensons believe that life begins at conception and abortion is akin to murder. More important, they believed God wanted this pregnancy and helped bring it about.

“Our choice simply came down to whether or not we were seriously willing to trust God,” Nathan wrote later on his blog “Confessions of a CF Husband.” “And really, what else did we have to hang on to at that point?”

For Nathan and Tricia, trusting in God, even when it doesn’t seem reasonable — even when life itself is at stake — is what it means to have faith.

Their daughter Gwyneth Rose was born ten weeks ago at 24 and a half weeks, a micro-preemie, and is reportedly “healthy and thriving in the NICU at Duke.” Tricia is back on the transplant list at Duke Hospital.

“Tricia believes that her purpose in life is to give God glory by allowing Him to use her cystic fibrosis to be a blessing to others,” Nathan wrote on his blog.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 7:46 pm and is filed under abortion, cystic fibrosis, religion, stereotypes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post