{"id":45,"date":"2014-12-05T16:44:28","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T16:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/menandabortion.net\/?p=45"},"modified":"2015-10-01T13:36:50","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T13:36:50","slug":"the-high-calling-of-fatherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/menandabortion.net\/index.php\/2014\/12\/05\/the-high-calling-of-fatherhood\/","title":{"rendered":"The High Calling of Fatherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bradley<\/a>To a high school quarterback in his senior year, a football scholarship to a Division I college means a bright future\u2014maybe even a pro career. In 2012, that was the future of Sam Riddle of Century High School in Portland, Oregon. He\u2019d turned his high school team around and earned a shot on a bigger stage, and the University of North Dakota offered it.<\/p>\n

Then Sam learned his girlfriend, Briahnna Krokum, was pregnant. The door to Sam\u2019s bright future seemed about to slam shut. His parents couldn\u2019t afford to send him to college, and his dad would be so disappointed in him.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Oregonian\u00a0<\/em>last month, Sam recalled that day two years ago. \u201cI almost passed out,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought about not graduating from high school, not graduating from college, working at a minimum-wage job the rest of my life. I thought of the worst\u2014I am going to be the joke of the school.\u201d<\/p>\n

They told no one except Sam\u2019s best friend. Sam and Bri didn\u2019t doubt their love for each other, and in their minds abortion was never an option. But they had to make a decision. Secretly they wrote down pros and cons, one list for adoption and one for parenting.<\/p>\n

Finally, they had to tell their parents. Sam\u2019s dad\u2014thinking about what Sam would lose\u2014pushed for abortion. Other family members and friends weighed in, advocating either for abortion or adoption.<\/p>\n

But Sam and Bri had already done their pros and cons. They had secretly decided to keep the baby and raise him together.<\/p>\n

In January 2013 Sam and his dad traveled to the University of North Dakota, home of the Fighting Sioux. In his heart Sam knew he wanted to refuse and return home. But when the time came, with this dad right there, he couldn\u2019t get the words out. Instead, he accepted the scholarship.<\/p>\n

Mason Riddle was born May 28, 2013. Sam cut the cord himself. “It was the best moment of my life,” he said. Friends and family rallied around them, and any thought of adoption and abortion was long gone. On July 25, Sam proposed to Bri and she said yes.<\/p>\n

Three days later, Sam left for North Dakota. Before the end of his first week there, he was on the phone to Linfield College, a small Division III school near home that offered no scholarships. Against his dad\u2019s advice, he signed away his UND scholarship and all that might have been. \u201cI\u2019m coming home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As Sam prioritized his new family and shouldered his responsibilities, his dad came to a deeper level of pride in the man his son had chosen to be. Financial aid and a part-time job helped pay Sam\u2019s way at Linfield, and by his sophomore year he was again a star quarterback. But for Sam, that title doesn\u2019t even come close to the one Mason calls him: \u201cDaddy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a culture that thrives on the allure of fame, money and unaccountability, Sam made a choice that\u2019s probably incomprehensible to many.\u00a0He sacrificed it all for the sake of something much more important and a greater calling. He and Bri not only chose life for Mason but also committed themselves to each other as a family.<\/p>\n

As Christmas approaches, I\u2019m reminded of another man more than 2,000 years ago who also made a difficult choice about a mother and a baby. Joseph could have cut and run but he didn\u2019t. When men commit themselves to stand for life and for their families, they experience blessings far greater than wealth and fame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To a high school quarterback in his senior year, a football scholarship to a Division I college means a bright future\u2014maybe even a pro career. In 2012, that was the future of Sam Riddle of Century High School in Portland, Oregon. He\u2019d turned his high school team around and earned a shot on a bigger<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"yoast_head":"\nThe High Calling of Fatherhood - Men and Abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/menandabortion.net\/index.php\/2014\/12\/05\/the-high-calling-of-fatherhood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The High Calling of Fatherhood - Men and Abortion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To a high school quarterback in his senior year, a football scholarship to a Division I college means a bright future\u2014maybe even a pro career. 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