Some of the most incredible stories come from the volunteers at HOPE who have been through some of the same experiences as our clients. Below is one such story. It is a powerful account of how God can and will work all things for the good of those who love Him. Her story is one of the many ways God uses crisis pregnancy centers and shows the heart of all of us who are ministering here at HOPE.
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40
For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope. Jeremiah 29:11
As a little girl you have such an innocent view of the world. You grow up with big dreams. Until you make one bad choice after another. You come to a place where you ask yourself “How did my life turn out this way?” At 17 you shouldn’t be sitting in a crisis pregnancy center explaining to this sweet Christian woman why you feel like you must have an abortion.
At 17 you should be planning your future, not the birth of your 2nd child. As I sit across from this patient woman, I rattle off a list of reasons why I need to have an abortion. Like I am going to somehow convince her this is the only choice I have. Listening intently, it’s obvious that she cares. She wants to know more about me. The more I tell her about myself I start to feel like she deeply knows me. She reads through the lines and starts to see past the walls around my heart.
Instead of seeing a hard hearted promiscuous, immodestly dressed teen Mom, she sees a girl that is broken, hurting, and just wants to be loved. She looks past the sin and shame and she sees Hope. Sharing her own story, she gives me a glimpse into her past. Inviting me to see the hurt and heartache her choices have caused her.
This woman, not only does she open up to me, I sense her sincere compassion. She really cares. Not just about the life growing within me, but she wants to save me too. I start to see that she doesn’t want me to carry the same emotional scar that she does. Lovingly and gently she explains to me what abortion really is. My heart of stone was starting to crack.
A few moments later she went with me in another room of the clinic. After explaining to me the process of the ultrasound she gave me some privacy. She returned with the ultrasound technician and together they introduced me to my baby. That day the ultrasound revealed a baby at 9 weeks with a heartbeat, fingers, and toes. As tears slid down my face, I chose life for this sweet baby. Today, that 9-week-old baby is a beautiful 9-year-old girl.
There was something so special about knowing that what was growing inside of me was a baby with fingers and a heartbeat. That day, and many days and even years later I thought I chose life because my baby had fingers. God knew what he was doing. In the midst of my chaos just showing me an ultrasound wouldn’t have been enough. My heart had to be prepared first. He used the sweetest woman to do just that.
“You see, God gave that woman eyes of grace and mercy. He put in her heart a hope for each woman that walks in that place.”
This woman saw more in me than my current circumstances. I didn’t leave that crisis pregnancy center with all the answers. The only thing I was sure about that afternoon was that I was going to keep my baby. Not knowing the grand scheme of Gods plans, I look back and see seeds that were planted that day. A little over a year later after choosing life for my baby, I finally chose eternal life for myself.
10 years later I am in awe of where God has placed me. You see, God gave that woman eyes of grace and mercy. He put in her heart a hope for each woman that walks in that place. The woman that looked on me with the loving mercy of Jesus Christ is the woman I became. My life has not been easy, but I would do it all again. I would do it again, because through that dark road I chose, God taught me how to love women where they are. As I sit across from each woman in the counseling room, he instills in my heart a hope for each woman’s future. He gives me the opportunity to pray that same hope over their lives. Because of what he did for me, I can see through his eyes. He gives me the ability to see past all the messy details and into the heart that is yearning to find hope.