A prevalent issue in the news today surrounds the funding of organizations that conduct abortions and their alleged practices in regard to selling the organs and fetal tissue of those aborted children. This post is not intended to speak to those issues. Instead, the following post is a true story from a Vision of Hope graduate who has experienced the pain of abortion as well as the joys of motherhood. We kept some of her story’s details out to protect her identity and generalized some of the specific aspects for the same reason.
Currently, we are sponsoring several ladies from our church to take biblical counselor training in the specialized area of counseling post-abortive women. Vision of Hope will offer that type of counseling to those women by women who have aborted babies, too. We believe in the power of redemption and who better to share hope with someone than a believer who has made the same destructive choices?
At Vision of Hope, we have the awesome privilege of seeing ladies go from having no hope, to experiencing the lasting hope, joy, peace, and freedom that is offered through Christ – whether they have aborted and feel the guilt and anguish of that decision or whether they have an unplanned pregnancy out of wedlock. It is our joy to share the Gospel with them and the fact that Jesus Christ offer redemption because He alone is the Redeemer. Only the Redeemer has the power to offer redemption!
It is beautiful when a pregnant young lady willingly walks into our facility desperate for help and answers. The life, love, and redemption that God brings out of this difficult situation is breathtaking, and is a wonderful reminder of our Lord who brings beauty from ashes!
Here is a true story of a graduate who has faced some very difficult decisions. Her life is affected by her choices as all of our lives are – that’s why we need a Redeemer to redeem us! We hope you are challenged and encouraged as you read this beautiful story of redemption:
“In my early 20’s, I found myself pregnant and my life was less than ideal. I struggled with the thought of trying to raise a baby when I was not stable or married, and the idea overwhelmed me. Though I was always against abortion, I felt that was my only option. So I made that fateful decision to abort.
I remember being in the room with the nurse and she was so callous about it all. She could tell I was scared and didn’t want to go through with it, but she kept telling me this is the best choice and you have the choice to make your own life ok.
The moment that I believe destroyed me that day was when she was doing the ultrasound to see how far I was. She made this comment, ‘It won’t stop moving all around for me to tell.’
Next she gave me some medication and as fast as it began, it was over. I was so ashamed and embarrassed and heartbroken and devastated. I remember going to checkout and the woman at the front desk asking for my copay for my insurance. It was like I was just paying for lunch or clothes or something like that. I had just made a choice that would change life for me forever.
After this I had night terrors and constant anxiety. I could not get past that comment the nurse had made about it ‘moving all around.’ I struggled to look at myself in the mirror. I thought I would rather be dead than suffer this pain, this unbearable pain in my heart. I turned to alcohol and drugs to live with myself which only led to more heartache and pain. This lifestyle and this pregnancy eventually led me to Vision of Hope.
Months before coming to VOH, when I found out I was pregnant with this one, I contemplated abortion again. I was at a crossroads. How would I tell my parents I was pregnant again and how in the world could I take care of several small children when I could barely take care of myself? That changed when I went to Vision of Hope.
There is a passage in Psalm 139:13-16. It says, ‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.’ Those words made me realize I didn’t create life. God creates life and He has ordained every moment of our lives with purpose.
Today, my life is so different. My story didn’t end the way it appeared it would. I am now a mother to several beautiful, amazing children. My life is not my own, I was created, just like the lives of the children I have. Every life is on purpose, and I pray that my sharing my story will help even one woman realize that same thing. If she finds herself pregnant, she too will realize the reality of abortion is that it leaves you empty and the pain doesn’t go away. Being a mother and giving life will not only be honorable, but will breathe hope and joy and life back into you!
I am so thankful to be a mother. It is not easy, but God’s perfect love drives out my fear of inadequacy. He is the creator of life, He is the sustainer of life.”
If you have found yourself in this difficult situation with nowhere to turn and seemingly no options, there is hope! Beauty can come from your situation, too. Redemption is a prayer away.
We would love to talk to you about how the Lord can bring hope and joy into your life, and help you get connected with an adoptive family if that is the best option for you. Or if you have already had an abortion and need counsel on how to address that situation, we would like to offer real hope and practical help to you. Contact us at (765) 447-5900.
-Pastor Mark Shaw (mesmerized by the redemption Christ offers to all of us no matter what we have done!)
