I have been volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center one day a week here in Houston for awhile now, and about one year ago I was serving my last day before Reese's arrival. My day started slow but ended in tons of praise and joy. I was asked to write about that day and the clients I saw for small column in the monthly newletter for the center. Several people have asked me about it and so I thought I would post it here. I am soooo not a writer but I just sat down and the words spilled onto the computer screen for me. Thank you God! To God be the glory.
(Names were changed.)
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Just over
two years ago, I felt God place a question in my heart. “How are you serving others?” About that time a close friend asked me to
serve with her at the FWPHC. The more I learned about this ministry the
more I saw the great ways God was using it, but I still quickly dismissed the
idea that I was supposed to serve there! I mean there I was a young stay at
home mom, who was not eloquent, or bold, or wise and was sadly not accustomed
to sharing my faith with others. God worked
on my heart for another year and He began to reveal to me how disobedient I was
being by not serving with this ministry.
God opened my eyes to my seriously wrong self-centered thinking of
“I”…“I can’t do that” “I’m not eloquent enough” “I’m not wise enough or
experienced enough” and “I’m not sure that’s for me” and He opened my heart to
trusting HIM. I laugh now because I am
still not eloquent, I am still not bold, I am still not wise, and I am still a
young stay at home mom. I realize now
there is nothing I can do for Him on my own, and it is by His goodness, mercy
and love I am able to serve. Despite
all of my shortcomings, God is using me and it is all for His glory!
Once I
began volunteering, my heart kept coming back to the word love. I was being called to love these women like
Jesus loves. God is so good, in that the more love I found myself pouring into
these women, the more God poured into me.
In my time spent at the center I have realized we are being called not
only to love on the women in crisis pregnancy situations but also boyfriends,
husbands, sisters, mothers, grandmothers and friends as well. A recent encounter with two clients proved
an opportunity to do just that.
“I have
already had one abortion. I really don’t want to have another one, but…” said Laura.
Laura, a sweet young woman, a divorced mother of two children continued
to describe her situation and how she found herself in it. “My boyfriend of only a little more than a
month came here with me. He wants me to
have an abortion.” As we discussed her
past, she explained how she had been depressed after her previous abortion, how
she has asked for forgiveness and is learning to forgive herself. I was able to share the love God has for her
and the love that He has for this unborn baby in her womb. “I see this as God giving me a second
chance.” said Laura. Then I asked if
she would like me to talk with her boyfriend and if he’d be willing. Praise God he was.
“It’s a mistake, just a
mistake.” Abe repeated again to me as
he sat defeated with his head in both hands staring at the ground. And by all worldly accounts it was a
mistake. Abe was currently going
through a divorce and an ugly custody battle for his young daughter, he was
unemployed and he had known his new girlfriend Laura just over a month. “But Abe, God doesn’t make mistakes. We certainly do, He does not. God has a great plan for this unborn child,
God can use this your “mistake” for His glory.” Abe respectfully listened and spoke again. “But this can’t be his plan, the timing it’s
just…a mistake. I can’t do this,
besides it’s early, it is only cells.”
Pleading with God for the right words, I continued to share with Abe the
love God has for his unborn child who is not just cells but a sweet baby God formed
and knitted in Laura’s womb. Knitted in His image.
Abe and Laura agreed to an
ultrasound and after more counseling, I went in to see the couple. Abe, while still broken, began seeing things
from a different perspective but I sensed that he needed more counseling, only
not from me, from a man. God is so
good, just minutes before a male volunteer had arrived. Abe and the male counselor talked and
afterward both he and Laura joined the staff and volunteers in the kitchen for
lunch. Abe looked at me and smiled, “Is
everyone here a Christian?” A huge grin
broke out on my face. “Yes, we
are!” “Oh” he said softly “I can tell,
I can feel it.” Love. God’s abundant love.
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This couple choose life for their baby and welcomed a sweet baby boy into the world this past year. The center was also able to host a small baby shower for this couple! Such a neat ministry!!! I am so thankful to be able to serve there. And what I love most about this center is that while yes, our desire is to save babies from abortion, our first and foremost mission is to share the gospel and in doing so trusting that if these women accept Christ they will choose life for their unborn baby. We see so many different clients from all walks of life and some do accept Christ and some reject Him and some just flat out don't want to hear it but if even just the smallest seed is planted..."For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God." Psalm 86:10
I love this one. The bride and her sister watching their parents walk down the aisle.
Some shots of Paige in action:
