2 cells...

2 cells. they find one another. they join. it starts.

those 2 cells become 4.

those 4 become 8.

those 8 become 16...and so the process continues.

It is hypothesized that the average adult human being is made up of one hundred trillion living cells, with cells dying and new ones being created now....and now....and now....and now. and so it goes for nearly a century.

In the first few weeks after conception those cells go through a process known as gastrulation, which is the start of cell differentiation. Each cell, containing the same genetic code within its nucleus, finds its niche, so to speak. those 2 initial cells multiply exponentially and differentiate into approximately 220 different types of cells.

By 6 weeks gestation, the human heart can be seen beating on ultrasound. Differentiation. The 5 senses. Differentiation. Lungs that move and absorb oxygen. Ears that hear. Kidneys that filter waste. Blood cells that stop bleeding, fight infection, transport oxygen. Nerve cells that allow my mind to tell my fingers to move on the keyboard. Eyes that transport information from this page to your brain to be absorbed...or ignored. All the result of differentiation. Biceps that can lift. Ducts that release tears.

100 trillion cells of 220ish types, researchers think. And it all starts with 2 cells. In 9 months those 2 cells are multiplied and specialized to the point of creating a little human being. In the first 3 months all the vital organ systems are developed and are at least somewhat functional. In the last 6 months those systems mature and that little person grows...starting off looking sub-human, then alien, and then suddenly like the little people we recognize and affectionately call babies.

2 cells....9 months....little person. In every cell division, there is room for error, for excessive apoptosis (aka cell death), for something to not go quite right in the differentiation process...with every cell division things must go 100% right for pregnancy to continue and a healthy baby be born to a healthy mama.

The product of evolution, right? Happenstance? From amoeba to this?

Ummm....i don't think so. We're each entitled to an opinion, and my opinion is that there is no less than an AMAZING Creator behind each and every one of our lives. Human life is truly a MIRACLE.

We take it for granted that if we want to have children we'll be able to. We take it for granted that if those 2 cells join and the stick turns pink, there will be a baby to take home in 9 months. We take it for granted that "our" pregnancy will go fine and will end with a perfect little baby. We ought not live in fear, but we are deeply mistaken if we live in the mindset that human life is a given. Ask anyone who has had a miscarriage...

Appreciate it for what it is....a true miracle. Value it. Honor it. Recognize that you are one of those miracles. I believe that no "defect" as we consider them is a surprise or "defect" to God. I surely don't understand His ways, but I don't believe there is anything that is an "accident" or "oversight" to Him. Hold human life in high esteem...treasure it, appreciate it.

Seek to behold the beauty of pregnancy and childbirth. Study it and through your study of it, find the Creator of it. It is in His love that you were created.

"For you formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when i was made in secret, and SKILLFULLY WROUGHT in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." Psalm 139: 13-16