How do you know he loves you?

We didn't have any ultrasounds scheduled the day I went to the center this past week. But as always, there were clients who came for other needs. A nineteen year old came in with the hope that she would find out she'd be pregnant. She actually was hoping to be pregnant even though she felt like she wasn't ready for something like this. Her boyfriend of 2 months wanted her to get a pregnancy test because she was "having symptoms." She said if she found out she was pregnant she would keep the baby because she felt abortion was wrong. Okay, that was good to hear. The next question I asked was, "If you're test is positive, does the father of the baby think abortion is wrong too or will you be pressured into a choice you believe is wrong?" She was eager to let me know that he loves her and that he would want the baby too. "How do you know he loves you?" I asked. "Oh, I just think he does," was her response.

While I counseled with her in one of the counseling rooms, her boyfriend waited in the waiting area. Unbeknownst to me one of the other volunteers began a conversation with him and found out he was not ready for another kid. He already had two kids, but never sees them. He was hoping for a negative test.

I was able to talk to her about the human's heart need for love. We all want to be loved and sometimes we will make choices and decisions without thinking about the consequences that may follow if we think it will bring us love. I talked about the God-shaped hole in the human heart and how we try and fill it with many things - a relationship, a baby, drugs, alcohol, money, sex. But yet none of these will ever satisfy our need for love until we fill it with Jesus Christ. After I shared the gospel with her, I asked her if she wanted to pray to receive Jesus into her life. She said her mom talked to her about God all the time too. I said, "Now that's love. Your mom must really love you. She wants your heart to be filled with Christ." Unfortunately, she did not pray with me to accept Christ. Fortunately, her pregnancy test was negative. I encouraged her to save sex for the day she may marry. I was able to tell her that if her boyfriend truly loves her then he would understand and wait. She would then really know he loved her.

God blesses those who honor His Word. Sex was created by God for a married man and woman. In those bounds and with Christ at the center, blessings overflow and love is truly understood and known in the covenant of marriage.

I don't know what this nineteen year old will do. I do pray she thinks about the things I was able to share with her.

Practical help for mothers in need

One of the many free services that is offered at the Pregnancy Resource Center is the opportunity to go through a parenting class. This is just one of the many classes that is offered to help equip women in the role as a mother. This past week I met with a young mother who was going through a very difficult time. She had been encouraged to get some help with her parenting and was referred to our center.

I was able to meet with her and go over the first two lessons in a book we use with the clients we see. The awesome thing about this parenting material is that it is full of God's Word. At the close of our time I was able to share a very clear gospel message with her. I asked her if she would like to pray to accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. I told her that if she wanted some time to think on the things I shared about Jesus that was okay. I encouraged her that she could also pray at home if she wanted to ask Christ into her life. She said she wanted some time to think about it.

At one point I clearly sensed God's Spirit fill me. It happened when I began to quote John 3:16 to her. She was giving me direct eye contact and I really sensed that God was drawing her through His Spirit. I do hope she will pray to receive Christ and that next week when she comes back for another class I will hear that she is a new creation!

Being a mother is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. I was fortunate enough to enter into motherhood knowing Jesus. I cannot imagine trying to be a mom without Him in my life. He has made all the difference in how I mother and offering the gospel invitation to the women who come to the center is truly the best way to help them.

"How big is my baby at 12 weeks?"

This is a question I received today after performing an ultrasound on a single young woman. I was happy to show her the tiny plastic baby models that show actual sizes of what a baby looks like at 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10 weeks and 12 weeks in the womb. As she took the 12 week old plastic baby model in her hands she had a look of amazement on her face. "Your baby is about 3 inches in length and weighs about 2 ounces," I told her. "Your baby is able to swallow and can also feel at this time." My client looked at me and said, "That's just incredible."

Yes, it is - quite incredible! While this client had every intention to keep her baby, the realization that there are other women everyday choosing a different option that takes away life is so difficult to comprehend. I am so fortunate to see on a weekly basis that a viable living being is what is at stake when one contemplates abortion. It is not a mass of unidentifiable tissue. No, there are facial features, arms that bring a tiny little hand to a mouth and legs that kick about. There are the small little bones of fingers and a perfectly shaped spine. There is a the quick paced flutter of a heart that beats anywhere between 120 - 180 beats per minute. There is life, yes, human life.

Psalm 139 speaks of God the Creator forming and weaving the inward parts of a human while in their mother's womb. As the Psalmist testifies of this great truth, he cannot but break forth in thanksgiving exclaiming how he was fearfully and wonderfully made. That 12 week old baby I saw today was God's handiwork too and like the Psalmist, I too, can't help but exclaim how wonderful are God's works!

A New Ministry Beginning...

Many years ago, I believed the Lord wanted to involve my life in a greater capacity in prolife ministry. As a busy Pastor's wife and home schooling mother of four children, I had to wait for the right timing. In the summer of 2008, the doors opened for me to get involved with a local pregnancy resource center after receiving six weeks of training. The center offers free pregancy testing, ultrasounds, counseling and various resource classes to women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. My volunteer position as a client advocate allows me many opportnities to serve women of all walks of life and faith. Probably the greatest blessing and surprise to me is how much love the Lord has given me for these women. I have been overwhelmed by His love for them and His desire for them to make right choices.

In April of 2009, thanks to the support of many friends and family I was able to attend a week long training in limited ultrasound obstetrics put on by Alliance for Life in Springfield, Missouri. There I received both classroom and clinical time and by the end of the week had performed 25 ultrasounds on pregnant women. It was one amazing week!

Currently, I am performing ultrasounds at a local Pregnancy Resource Center in Missouri on Tuesday afternoons. I need to do 50 supervised ultrasounds which are then signed off by the center's Medical Director before I can do them on my own. I am so happy to say that I am well on my way and soon this will be a reality because of the many who partnered with me in this cause for life. I could not believe how much support came in! I am very grateful. I had more than enough to complete the ultrasound training so the rest of the donations went to another prolife ministry called Ultrasounds For Life. The Director recently emailed and said, “I will be participating in a pro-life conference in Durban, South Africa where we are donating two ultrasound machines. The funds from your church and some others, will make it possible for all this to happen. Your assisting Ultrasounds For Life with this international effort is greatly appreciated.” Wow! God is going to use ultrasound machines all over the globe to save the lives of the unborn!

A couple of weeks ago at the center, a woman came in who had had several previous abortions. She said she never wanted to have children. She also said she had never been affected either emotionally or physically from her previous abortions. She had never had an ultrasound so another volunteer and I asked her if she would like to have one done. She was willing and was able to see her 12 week old baby moving about, auditioning for his very life. I cannot describe to you the look on her face. Clearly her countenance revealed much joy, yet underneath there appeared to be a look of shock and alarm. Would this woman now begin to face the reality of her previous choices? I was able to share with her that the same God who creates life, is the same God that offers forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ. There in that little ultrasound room, the love of God poured through my heart to this woman who was truly in crisis and confusion. God’s love is unconditional. Because God so loved the world He gave His only Son and while we were yet sinners, His Son, Jesus Christ died for us. Amazing grace! Amazing love! It is truly hard to comprehend! This woman decided she was going to keep this baby! God was at work!

My hope in maintaining this Audition for Life blog site is to write about prolife issues and how God is using medical technology such as the ultrasound machine to help women choose life for their unborn children. May God use this blog for His glory!