Pro-Life Testimonial

I hope you read and are encouraged by this woman's testimony of triumph over a very strong temptation to abort her child:

Sometimes saying NO is an act of defiance, but in this case, almost twenty-one years ago, it was an act of faith:

We were high school sweethearts; we had been dating for four years. Suddenly after high school everything changed. My honor student, straight A, never-been-in-trouble boyfriend got his first full-time job. Unfortunately, his new friends introduced him to a new world. He began experimenting with drugs, reading books about Hitler, and drinking. All of our friends abandoned him, wanting nothing to do with his new life. In vain I held on and held out for a hopeful change. Then his emotions began to change: he became angry, bitter, volatile, and abusive.

Somewhere in the midst of everything I became pregnant. First, it was my boyfriend that absolutely insisted on an abortion. Then it was my own mother, of all people. As word spread among my friends they all gave me the same grim outlook of life trying to raise a child at my age.

However, I was raised in a Christian home: church every Sunday, devotions every night. Although I had strayed from those teachings I knew God was still there, somewhere! In desperation I cried out to Him. I confessed to Him that I couldn't face this world without Him and asked for His help. Not only did I feel all the aches and pains lift from my shoulders, I also felt His presence and strength. I confronted the demand again for an abortion, and said NO!

Don't get me wrong, life didn't all of a sudden spring up daisies and become perfect. My boyfriend left me, rumors soared, and people stared. But my life changed. I prayed the same thing every day, and still do, "God, I give this child to you. Use him, bless him, and help him to always hear Your voice."

My son is now twenty, and yes, I still pray that exact same prayer for him.

God has answered my prayer ten-fold. My son is the photographer and a youth group leader in his church, he works with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the local high school, during the summer he witnesses on the beach and during the winter he feeds and witnesses to the homeless in St. Augustine. Many times he has brought the broken, beaten, and needy in to his own home.

This might sound like gloating but I promise you it is not. What it is is absolute awe and amazement! God has used this child to touch so many hurting people and spread His word to the lost and dying. I am amazed time and time again at God's blessings and great mercy.

Most of all I think back to what would have been lost if I had not trusted God to give me the strength to say, "NO".

God CAN use our children to change the world but we have to make the decision to allow them to be part of the world.