I was hanging out with some friends recently when we got to talking… One of them declared herself to be “an accident.” Her mom got pregnant unexpectedly, her biological dad took off.
Gets you thinking, because one becomes acutely aware that the outcome need not have been her birth. Many women have abortions under those circumstances. And when faced with a real, live, lovely and funny friend, one becomes acutely aware of what a terrible loss that would be.








If I think of the beginning of my Lord Jesus Christ, if it had happened to a contemporary woman, He would have been considered an accident. From the perspective of the Father, of course, it was not so: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). But even from Mary’s perspective it was not so: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38).
My first child was “an accident”, but thanks to the convictions of my pro-life boyfriend (now husband), our little accident is now 27 years old and has given us two beautiful grandchildren. Thank God we didn’t break the link in that chain!
Remember the comedy show Roseanne? I recall when her son asked if he was an accident, Roseanne replied “not an accident, but a surprise”. Perhaps if we change the language, we can change the thinking too. I bet a lot of us were surprises.