“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.