At the center, we often read and give out Jeremiah 29:11:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
And now I realize I am living the part of “the plans” in my own life. I can see how God is using some of my past life experiences to minister:
Being adopted at 9 months old
Being in unhealthy relationships
Going through a divorce
Being a single mom to 2
Getting remarried & having 2 more children
Meeting my birthmother at 35 years old
Adopting a son
Being a wife and mother to 5 children
And then my own daughter having an unplanned pregnancy
I share these personal experiences to give hope and encourage those whose future seem too much, too hard, too difficult.
The Reality of Abortion
Each day, 3300 women (ages 12-40’s) wake up in America believing abortion is the only realistic solution to an unplanned pregnancy.
In the tragic decision, not only is a human life snuffed out, but a woman’s life (remember ages 12-40’s) is changed forever.
Many people have been working for years to put an end to abortion.
The Caring Pregnancy Center seeks a more immediate route by supporting one woman at a time, to spare her and her unborn child the sorrow of abortion.
While legal efforts will continue, hundreds of lives are being saved each day through the work of pregnancy centers.
Last October I went to a Care Net conference. I heard these words about abortion:
“If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”
Wow! Wow! This was powerful! So this the solution-----
The Hope of Pregnancy Centers
What do we do (along with many, many other volunteers) at the Caring Pregnancy Center? We offer hope. We have 3 different types of clients that come to us: clients needing a pregnancy test; clients inquiring information on abortion or seeking an abortion; or clients choosing to parent their child.
We welcome the sometimes nervous and anxious client. We sit and listen. (We are praying usually the whole time because their story is so sad….or so complicated).
Then we direct them on how to take the pregnancy test or we tell them other services we offer….and then we wait 5 minutes for the results and it’s during those 5 minutes that God has his chance….
We may share how Jochebed (Moses’ mother) made a basket to protect, give shelter, and save her baby and how God saved him. Why? Because God has a plan and purpose for each one of us and he loves us!
We may share that even though DCFS is breathing down your neck, the policemen just left, you now have no income, you have 4 children to feed and you are pregnant with #5….don’t give up! There is hope….somewhere there is hope! Why? Because Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” We’re here.
So then, as we read the pregnancy test together….we may sigh or someone may gasp all the air out of the room…but we make a plan. They may sign up for our Earn While You Learn program or if they are abortion minded we say to them, “I need to talk to you in the next 24 hours…how can I do that?”
Our last words of hope -----we ask, “Can we pray together before you leave?” and no matter if they are a believer or a non-believer, they respond, “Sure”.
I believe this has to be a glimpse of the new heaven and new earth…
Strangers coming together, bowing their heads, a believer lifting up someone(s) to the Almighty Father because there are nothing humans can do alone. We have to go to God.
So on the days when we go home and we leave with heavy hearts, I remember Isaiah 65:17-25 from The Message
“Pay close attention now:
I’m creating a new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy,
Anticipate what I’m creating:
I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I’ll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city, nor cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses and move in.
They’ll plant fields and eat what they grow.
No more building a house that some outsider takes over,
Nor more planting fields that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won’t work and have nothing come of it,
they won’t have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God with their children
and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I’ll answer.
Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,
lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,
but snakes ---- they’ll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill anywhere on my Holy mountain,” says God.
And that’s my hope.
I encourage you, as a sister in Christ, a friend, a neighbor, a mother….become part of the solution.
Volunteer as a counselor, a receptionist at the center
Donate so we can give especially during these hard times
Pray! Pray for us. It’s a battlefield. We’re breaking cycles and bringing hope to future generations.
Thank you.
We often read and give out Jeremiah 29:11:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I am now living the part of “the plans” in my own life. Now I can see how God is using some of my past life experiences:
Being adopted
Being in unhealthy relationships
Going through a divorce
Being a single mom
Getting remarried
Meeting my birthmother
Adopting
Being a wife and mother to 5 children
And even my own daughter having an unplanned pregnancy
I share these experiences to give hope and encourage those whose future seem too much, too hard, too difficult.
The Reality of Abortion
Each day, 3300 women (ages 12-40’s) wake up in America believing abortion is the only realistic solution to an unplanned pregnancy.
In the tragic decision, not only is a human life snuffed out, but a woman’s life (remember ages 12-40’s) is changed forever.
Many people have been working for years to put an end to abortion.
The Caring Pregnancy Center seeks a more immediate route by supporting one woman at a time, to spare her and her unborn child the sorrow of abortion.
While legal efforts will continue, hundreds of lives are being saved each day through the work of pregnancy centers.
Last October I went to a Care Net conference. I heard these words about abortion:
“If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”
Wow! Wow! This was powerful! So this the solution-----
The Hope of Pregnancy Centers
What do we do (along with many, many other volunteers) at the Caring Pregnancy Center? We offer hope. We have 3 different types of clients that come to us: clients needing a pregnancy test; clients inquiring information on abortion or seeking an abortion; or clients choosing to parent their child.
We welcome the sometimes nervous and anxious client. We sit and listen. (We are praying usually the whole time because their story is so sad….or so complicated).
Then we direct them on how to give themselves the pregnancy test or we tell them other services we offer….and then we wait 5 minutes for the results and it’s during those 5 minutes that God has his chance….
We may share how Jochebed (Moses’ mother) made a basket to protect, give shelter, and save her baby and how God saved him. Why? Because God has a plan and purpose for each one of us and he loves us!
We may share that even though DCFS is breathing down your neck, the policemen just left, you now have no income, you have 4 children to feed and you are pregnant with #5….don’t give up! There is hope….somewhere there is hope! Why? Because Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” We’re here.
So then, as we read the pregnancy test together….we may sigh or someone may gasp all the air out of the room…but we make a plan. They may sign up for our Earn While You Learn program or if they are abortion minded we say to them, “I need to talk to you in the next 24 hours…how can I do that?”
Our last words of hope -----we ask, “Can we pray together before you leave?” and no matter if they are a believer or a non-believer, they respond, “Sure”.
I believe this has to be a glimpse of the new heaven and new earth…
Strangers coming together, bowing their heads, a believer lifting up someone(s) to the Almighty Father because there are nothing humans can do alone. We have to go to God.
So on the days when I go home and we leave with heavy hearts, I remember Isaiah 65:17-25 from The Message
“Pay close attention now:
I’m creating a new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy,
Anticipate what I’m creating:
I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I’ll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city, nor cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses and move in.
They’ll plant fields and eat what they grow.
No more building a house that some outsider takes over,
Nor more planting fields that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won’t work and have nothing come of it,
they won’t have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God with their children
and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I’ll answer.
Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,
lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,
but snakes ---- they’ll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill anywhere on my Holy mountain,” says God.
And that’s my hope.
I encourage you, as a sister in Christ, a friend, a neighbor, a mother….become part of the solution.
Volunteer as a counselor, a receptionist at the center
Donate so we can give especially during these hard times
Pray! Pray for us. It’s a battlefield. We’re breaking cycles and bringing hope to future generations.
Thank you.
Every day thousands of teens make this choice. We understand the pressures you’re feeling. It’s not just about “doing it” because everybody else is. It’s a big step in your life. Which of these girls do you want to be? Check it out!!
Why do guys think they have to be a “Man” and prove that manhood by being sexually experienced? And, then, they still want to marry a virgin! Hey, that’s like a double standard.
Here’s a letter from a beautiful girl to her future husband:connector - An Open Letter to My Future Husband
I was 24 years old and I was pretty sure that I was pregnant. For some reason I just didn’t think this would happen to me. I was afraid to tell my boyfriend. I was afraid to tell anybody. I remember being confused, scared and too ashamed to talk to anyone about it. I was getting sick at work every morning so I decided that I had better go to the doctor to be sure that I was pregnant. The doctor confirmed my pregnancy and asked me about my situation. He also gave me the phone number of an abortion clinic. When I told my boyfriend, he told me that he didn’t want the baby and he wanted me to get an abortion. I felt like someone had just stabbed me in the heart. I didn’t know what to do. I had no family to turn too and no friends close enough that I could even begin to talk to about all this. I started feeling very alone and afraid. I tried to talk to him about it but he was adamant. Get an abortion. He said he would pay for it and drive me over there. I felt cornered and too afraid to argue with him or try to talk to anyone else!
I had the abortion on February 4th. It is a day that I will never forget. I remember there were picketers outside the clinic that we went to in Peoria. I remember how cold it seemed in there and looking at all those other girls, some very young, and I remember how scared they all looked. I remember my name being called and wanting to run out of the clinic screaming it isn’t fair. Why did this have to happen to me? What if something goes wrong? What will they tell my parents? During the whole procedure, I felt so alone. After the abortion, I felt this huge void, I just felt dead inside, no emotion, no nothing, it was a feeling I carried for a very long time. I broke up with the guy I had been involved with, I just couldn’t face him anymore. I started drinking, doing drugs; whatever it took to just forget. It took several years before I even began to think about a serious relationship with anyone. But eight years later, I met my husband and thought maybe this relationship wouldn’t be like the last one. He was kind and caring. I was getting tired of drinking and drugging; I needed someone who really cared about me, someone I could trust. Our relationship became serious and we got married and had two children.
I decided to start attending a small church. One Sunday at church, a woman gave her testimony. As I was listening to her, she started talking about an abortion she had several years ago, and how it had affected her life. She called it Post Abortion Syndrome. I remember sitting in the pew with my two children and I started crying……tears streaming down my face. I didn’t understand what was going on with me. She mentioned a bible study she had gone through and how that bible study had healed her and after church I went up and talked to her. She said that they were going to be starting up a group for this bible study and would I be interested in attending? So, I said yes, not really sure of what I was getting into but for some reason drawn to it. I started going to this bible study, called Binding Up the Broken Hearted which is led by women who have gone through the heartbreak of abortion. It wasn’t easy…..I changed my mind on the first day driving into Pontiac. I burst into tears and thought I must be crazy; I can’t talk about my abortion. I remember sitting in the parking lot crying and too afraid to go inside.
Finally, they came out looking for me and convinced me to come in. Anyway, I stayed and came back each Monday for 10 weeks. There were many times I had to force myself to go. But God opened my heart, and all the anger, hurt, shame, guilt and bitterness that I had carried inside of me since my abortion came pouring out. I lost 25 pounds, I spent hours in my bedroom crying, but the Lord was cleaning me out. And very slowly, I started to turn to God. I started praying to God from my heart, praying from a heart that was hurt, a heart that knew things were not right. I always prayed in the barn early in the morning; it was quiet and peaceful. And one morning, after a sleepless night, I went out to the barn to pray. I carried such a heaviness in me; it was becoming unbearable; I just did not know how much more I could take. I fell to my knees and I just cried out to God asking for forgiveness for my abortion. I had murdered my own child. I was so sorry for what I had done. I was kneeling and sobbing and I realized how much pain I had caused Him. The Lord gives us children as a gift, a blessing and I had messed it all up with my own selfishness. And at that moment, something…..I don’t know…..a peace, a stillness filled me. I felt as if all this weight had been lifted from me and I felt a comfort come over me that I had never felt before.
You see, only in my need, did I realize how much I needed Him. He used something so painful as my abortion to bring me to Him. My abortion was the sin that was separating me from having the relationship with Him I so desperately needed. That was 4 years ago and since that time I have begun a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I see the world with a new heart and an understanding that can only come from Him. He has taken away the hurt, the anger, guilt and shame that I had carried inside for so long. Whenever I think of what Jesus went through, the persecution, the pain and suffering he endured for me so that I could be free from my sin, it just makes me want to cry. He died so that I could be forgiven and learn how to forgive others. Only in His grace, can I stand before Him knowing that He loves me and cares for me, He has filled that huge hole in my heart and I no longer carry the emptiness that I had inside. I now see my worth through His eyes. He has changed me and I can never thank Him enough for loving me just as I am.
Real people deserve real solutions. Please consider these responses from some of the Caring Pregnancy Center’s recent clients:
“I wouldn’t have half the things I have for my little boy, if it weren’t for this place.”
“She (the counselor) was very friendly and understanding…very nice and a heartwarming person.”
“She (the counselor) helped me with all my needs.”
“They do not judge people who come in.”
“I felt like I was part of a family. I feel good during all aspects of the session. I’m never judged. I love the Earn While You Learn program.”
“I learned about pregnancy and how to care for my child.”
“The counselors help you learn more about your options and really give you someone to talk to who cares.”