Father’s Day is often wrapped in celebration – cards, laughter and expressions of gratitude.

But for many fathers, the day carries a deeper story, one shaped by loss, perseverance and the surprising grace of God. 

For our family, Father’s Day has become a sacred reminder that God is the Giver of life, the Healer of broken hearts, and the One who shapes a father’s soul through both joy and suffering.

“Is it too late to terminate the baby?”

Our journey of parenting was punctuated by this question that pierced the heart.

In the second trimester, we learned that our fourth child had a 95% chance of being born with Down Syndrome, or Trisomy 21.

The question was asked out of concern for us, but it revealed a worldview that measures life by its projected “quality”: How much a child might cost us, how much energy he might require, how he might affect our ministry or future.

But Scripture teaches a radically different truth. Jeremiah 1:5 declares: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Psalm 139:13 reveals to us that “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”

Jocelyn, Pastor Ric’s wife, with Nuria.

Life is not valuable because of a human being’s ability, productivity or potential contribution. Life is valuable because God Himself breathes worth into every human being.

Before we ever faced that question, our family had already walked through the valley of grief. Five years earlier – on Mother’s Day – my wife Jocelyn miscarried at home. To this day, the memory is still raw.

Our daughter Liora cried herself to sleep for nights, asking: “Why didn’t God save the baby? Is He testing us?” Our son Zion kissed the bellies of pregnant neighbours, longing for the sibling he never met. Our hearts were shattered.

After that season, I was done. I didn’t want Jocelyn to endure another pregnancy, another labour, another heartbreak. But God had other plans.

During a quiet family prayer time, Liora prayed boldly: “God, please give us another baby.” I immediately shut it down: “Daddy is done. Like done done!” But Liora didn’t give up. She rallied her siblings, and together they prayed for months. Their childlike faith softened my stubborn heart.

Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me… for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

Through my children, God reminded me that faith often looks like trust before understanding. Eventually, I surrendered: Who was I to say no if God wanted to give us more babies?

Psalm 127:3 echoed in my heart: “Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”

We made a family pact – who would change diapers, who would carry the baby, who would feed the baby. When I asked who would wake up in the middle of the night, all three kids shouted, “YOU!”

We laughed, signed a “contract,” and moved on with life – recovering from loss, moving to Grand Rapids, enduring winter storms, finding boba shops, traveling to Turkey and New Zealand and serving wherever God led us.

Then early in 2023, God surprised us. Jocelyn had a dream she was pregnant. Around the same time, Liora had the same dream. Jocelyn’s chronic ovarian cyst pain suddenly disappeared, and during a checkup, the technician announced: “I don’t see the cyst anymore… but I do see a baby.”

Ric and Jocelyn with their children Kyla (14), Liora (11), Zion (9) and Nuria (2).

God had turned a cyst into a child – something only He could do. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

For three months, our home overflowed with joy. The kids celebrated daily. We thanked God for this miracle child.

Then came the diagnosis during the second trimester: A 95% chance of Down Syndrome, and the option to terminate the pregnancy.

The world’s logic collided with God’s truth. The world values life by productivity; God values life by identity – His image is stamped on every human being.

We chose life. We chose trust. We chose to believe that God does not make mistakes. We don’t know how it will play out, but we know we are resting in the Hands that hold the future. 

“I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14)

On October 30, 2023, at 2.30am, our daughter Nuria (meaning “consuming fire of the Lord”) was born.

She arrived in a dramatic fashion, delivered by Jocelyn in a hospital restroom without doctors present. I scooped her out of the water and held her in my hands, overwhelmed by the miracle of her life.

Soon after, we learned she indeed had Trisomy 21. The genetic counselor said it was random. But we knew better. It wasn’t random – it was providence. As Job said in 1:21 “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

Nuria was not a burden; she was a gift. Not a child with “special needs”, but a child with a special calling.

Yet the joy of her birth quickly turned into a storm of medical crises: Two holes in her heart, dangerously high bilirubin, failed hearing tests, dehydration, low blood sugar, and a terrifying ER visit where nurses struggled to find her tiny veins.

Baby Nuria had two holes in her heart at birth, but God has healed both completely.

At one point, her heart rate dropped so rapidly we thought we would lose her. But God carried us through: Test after test came back clear. Her hearing returned. Her spinal fluid was normal. Her blood stabilised. She passed every hurdle. Through it all, we clung to Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

Even as Nuria was going through tests, Jocelyn ministered to nurses and doctors, praying for those who shared their stories of loss, marriage struggles and spiritual searching. Even in her pain, she radiated Christ. She lived out Philippians 1:12, turning suffering into Gospel opportunity.

And Nuria – tiny, fragile, fierce – became a testimony of God’s goodness. She ignited faith in our family, in hospital staff and in everyone who heard her story. She reminded us that life is sacred, that God is sovereign, and that His gifts are always perfect.

The blessing of Father’s Day

This Father’s Day, I look at Nuria – our miracle baby, our fire of the Lord – and I see the blessing of fatherhood in a new light.

Nuria, the “consuming fire of the Lord”.

Since 2020, when God healed us from our own abortion experience that took place when we were not yet Christians, Jocelyn and I have been involved in post-aborted ministry and pastoral healing, working to turn the culture of the dead into a culture of life.

Having Nuria has been a strong affirmation from the Lord that solidified our life calling to uphold the sanctity of human life.

Having gone through abortion, miscarriage and a baby with Trisomy 21, we have experienced the leading of the Lord and count it a blessing and worthy of God’s call to elevate people who have been undervalued and cast out.

The moment I was asked, “Is it too late to terminate the baby?” I realised our baby was our second chance given by the Lord for His gracious work of redemption.

Baby Nuria is an incredible testament of God’s amazing and redemptive grace to our life and ministry. We have helped many post-aborted men and women find healing, restoration and freedom in Christ. 

Nuria’s story has become a powerful part of Pastor Ric and Jocelyn’s ministry to those who have suffered miscarriage and abortion.

We know having a child with Down Syndrome will present medical challenges in the future. We have placed all our faith and trust in the Lord that Nuria belongs to Him and that God will provide and meet all her needs with His own provision. Over the last two years, God has proven so gracious and faithful, healing Nuria’s heart and meeting our needs.

Fatherhood is not about control; it is about surrender. Not about strength, but dependence on God. Not about ease, but sacrifice. Not about perfect children, but a perfect Father who entrusts us with His precious ones.

This Father’s Day, I celebrate:

• The faith of my children who prayed me into obedience
• The courage of my wife who labored in pain and ministered in love
• The miracle of a daughter who survived against all odds
• The God who turns grief into joy, fear into faith, and cysts into babies

Nuria has taught me more about God’s heart than I ever expected. She has expanded my capacity to love, deepened my trust in God’s sovereignty, and reminded me that every child – every life – is a divine gift.

As Revelation 21:5 reminds us: “Behold, I am making all things new.” 

This Father’s Day, we rejoice because God has reaffirmed our calling. Through Nuria, the fire of God will ignite a generation to uphold the sacredness of life and deliver healing and transformation to the voiceless and defenceless, until all are heard and healed.