The Hardened Heart's Story

                She already called Planned Parenthood. She already understood the processes of abortion in their clinic. She already knew that she had up to two weeks to take the RU-486, the abortion pill.

This was the client that walked into Community Pregnancy Center Monday morning. Without an appointment, she sat in our waiting room for a pregnancy test. Our client advocate and trainee took a deep breath, and asked the twenty-year-old girl to the counseling room.

                Together our counselors tried to hear this woman’s story, but she refused to share. She didn’t want to hear that she could do this. She didn’t want to talk about the other pregnancy options. She didn’t want to accept any form of hope. She wouldn’t even receive a Proof of Pregnancy for a Medicaid application. She knew she was going to abort. It wasn’t a baby in there. It was hardly even a pregnancy to her. It was just a mistake, one that Planned Parenthood offered to erase.

                The client advocate shared the Gospel to this hardened heart. She explained the unconditional love of her Heavenly Father, a concept our client didn’t truly grasp. Unconditional love from a father? Her own father told her that he would never speak to her again if she had a baby this way. She didn’t even know who the father of her unborn baby was. This is the confused, twisted view of a father she knew. Though she assured the client advocate that she was indeed a Christian, she didn’t acknowledge the lack of unconditional love in her life. When the client advocate offered to pray over her, the client rejected it. She saw her positive pregnancy test, and she didn’t want prayers. She didn’t want our free ultrasound. She wanted out.

                Before she rushed out of the doors, our client advocate trainee gave her a packet filled with truths of God, her baby, and the undoctored truth about abortion. The client left with the information. We prayed for intervention. For all we knew, this woman was driving out of our parking lot and straight to Planned Parenthood. It felt like a lost opportunity, but God’s truth is never lost.

 

“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11

                If this client already knew she was pregnant, why would she want to take our pregnancy test? If this client already talked with Planned Parenthood, why would she first come to a center that does not offer abortions?

Because her Sovereign Creator wanted to talk to her.

                There is not one single logical explanation of why she would come to our facility if she was absolutely determined to have an abortion. The Designer of the cosmos personally interrupted her plans with a distinct message of LIFE. His words never return to him as a failure. When He speaks, mountains move, even the tall mountains in a panicked heart. We saw a lost opportunity, but Christ saw an open door.

Two hours after she left, she came back to the office.

“I was wondering if I could go ahead and get my proof of pregnancy for a Medicaid application.”

An hour after that, she called the office.

“I was wondering if I could go ahead and schedule an ultrasound.”

She is now looking at all of her pregnancy options!

She is applying for Medicaid, and she's scheduled for an ultrasound.

                Pray for this young client as she searches. Pray that she doesn’t run away anymore. Pray that she will wait for her ultrasound appointment with us. Pray that she begins to understand the unconditional love of a true Father!

NO to United Airlines!!!!
REPOSTED FROM AbbyJohnson.org blog...

 NO to United Airlines!!!!Sep 20  

Today I received my standard weekly email from my former Planned Parenthood affiliate, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. You would think they would have removed my name and email by now, but that is another story. Anywho, it was a pretty boring update with nothing exciting to report, but as I was scrolling through, something caught my attention. This particular affiliate always has their big gala event at the Hyatt in downtown Houston. Lots of well-to-do Houstonians come to show support of this huge affiliate (4th largest in the country to be exact) and all of the “services” they provide, including abortion. No one that comes is surprised that Planned Parenthood provides abortion services. No, they know that all too well. In fact, the people that come to this particular gala for this particular affiliate come because they are PROUD to support the largest abortion clinic in the Western Hemisphere. They know what abortion is. They know what abortion looks like. They know, and they support it proudly…at $500 per individual ticket.
So, back to the attention getter. I always like to see the names of the high rollers who are listed as the “co-chairs” of the event. These are donors who give tens of thousands of dollars to the affiliate and are therefore asked to put their name down on the invitation. They usually have some sort of status among the elite local community. Name recognition is important when you are trying to raise over a million dollars at one event. I scrolled through the invitation and there it was, a name that was VERY familiar to me. Jeff Smisek.
That name may not ring a bell to you. But I know it well. I spend most of my life on airplanes. Before every take off we get a little safety demonstration. If we are lucky enough to be on a decent sized plane, that demonstration is shown on a video. I personally prefer to fly on airlines that are in the “Star Alliance.” Some of those include United, US Airways, and Lufthansa. I am a million mile flyer with this program, which comes with a few perks. Because of this, I try to stick with United when I travel. When the United safety demonstration video begins, a message from the CEO comes on first. He is thanking us for traveling on United and talks about how image is so important to his airline. That man’s name? Jeff Smisek.
I almost couldn’t believe what I saw on this invitation. Surely not. Surely not MY Jeff Smisek! Surely not the CEO of my favorite airline!! Let it be a lie!!! He was actually listed with someone else, a lady named Diana Strassmann. http://www.ppaction.org/site/Calendar?id=102855&view=Detail. Hoping there was someone else with the name, Jeff Smisek, I googled both of their names together to see what I would find. Well, they are married. And Jeff Smisek, CEO of United and Jeff Smisek, co-chair of Planned Parenthood’s annual gala are one in the same.
Now I was disappointed…and angry. And I am doing something about it. Jeff Smisek runs the second largest airline in the world. And now he is co-chairing an event for the LARGEST ABORTION CLINIC IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. This abortion clinic’s goal is to perform at least 75 abortions, 6 days a week. They intend to perform abortions up to 25 weeks gestation. And THAT is what the CEO of United Airlines stands for.
Well, this million mile flyer has had enough. It is time to expose Jeff Smisek for who he really is. He is helping to kill the most defenseless among us. And apparently, he is PROUD to do it! He has his name plastered on their invitation! I am taking a stand against United. Will you stand with me? Will you say NO to United Airlines? This one clinic ALONE in Houston is killing over 23,000 babies per year!!! THAT is what Jeff Smisek is supporting. Jeff says United Airlines cares about their image…well, let’s see how much they care. Let’s get this message sent out far and wide. On my website at www.abbyjohnson.org, I have included a sample “letter to the editor” that you can send in to your local paper. Share this article on your blog. Share it on your Facebook and Twitter. We need to hold these people accountable. Our voices DO make a difference…and our dollars DEFINITELY make a difference! Stand against Jeff Smisek! Stand against United Airlines! Email Jeff Smisek today and share your disgust. jeff.smisek@united.com.

Letter to the Editor
Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, located in Houston is the 4th largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the United States. They run the largest abortion clinic in the Western Hemisphere. This clinic’s goal is to perform at least 75 abortions, 6 days a week. That totals over 23,000 abortions per year. And they terminate pregnancies up to 25 weeks gestation…that is babies over 6 months old.
So, you can imagine the surprise I felt when I found out that the CEO of United Airlines, Jeff Smisek, was “co-chairing” this particular affiliate’s annual gala in Houston, Texas. www.ppaction.org. When flying on United, you will often see a video of the safety demonstration on television monitors throughout the plane. Before the demonstration begins, Jeff Smisek will come on and thank you for flying and tell you that “image” is very important to his airline. Well, let’s see if that is really true. Myself, along with thousands of other pro-lifers across the country, are taking a stand against United Airlines. Jeff Smisek runs the second largest airline in the world. And now he is co-chairing an event for the LARGEST ABORTION CLINIC IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. Enough is enough. It is time to expose Jeff Smisek for who he really is. He is helping to kill the most defenseless among us. And apparently, he is PROUD to do it! He has his name plastered on their invitation! I am taking a stand against United. Will you stand with me? Will you say NO to United Airlines? Our voices DO make a difference…and our dollars DEFINITELY make a difference! Stand up for life! Email Jeff Smisek today and share your disgust. jeff.smisek@united.com.

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The Cousin's Story

Thursdays are exciting days at Community Pregnancy Center! Throughout the week, our client advocates counsel every young woman seeking a pregnancy test, listening to the details of her situation. If the client is vulnerable to the abortion choice, our advocates schedule them for a free, limited ultrasound to see the growing baby in the uterus, give an accurate due date, and allow that confused girl to hear the sound of her baby’s heartbeat! Donated equipment and a large flat-screen television reveal the life that our loving King has been knitting together for weeks. Miracles happen in that ultrasound room. God changes hearts in that ultrasound room, and it all happens on Thursdays.

                This past Thursday welcomed a young woman, celebrating her twenty-fourth birthday. Our sonographer, Mikelle, reviewed her file before calling her to the back of the office: abortion-vulnerable. When she came for her pregnancy test just a week previous, she explained her sorted story. This was not her first pregnancy. She chose abortion years earlier, and, after that decision, she mothered beautiful sons. Her youngest boy is just five months old. Her boyfriend has already left her. She’s unemployed, she’s alone, and now-for the fourth time-her pregnancy test read positive.

                She convinced herself that she could not parent this child. How could she? No money. No boyfriend. No support. She then saw only two options: adoption or abortion. She considered both, fully knowing the grief and regret of abortion. However, she saw adoption as giving her baby away. She would experience the full pregnancy, the pain of delivery, and then she must watch as another woman walks out of the hospital with the baby in her arms? Surely that’s not proper motherhood. Surely a decent mother would care for her own child. If she did not have the will or the means to do this, then abortion must be the only option. She told herself that if she couldn’t keep the baby, then it would be better to stop the pregnancy before the baby grows any further.

                Mikelle read this commonly heard mindset within this young woman’s file, and prepared for the ultrasound appointment. She called the girl forward, but the client asked if the appointment could please wait. “My relative’s coming!” she explained. “Can we please wait for my relative to get here?” Mikelle graciously agreed. This was the last appointment for the day, so a small delay was not a problem.

                Finally the relative walked through the door. Identifying the woman as her older cousin, our young client followed Mikelle to our sonogram room to see her baby. The cousin walked behind the pair seemingly distant. Hesitation appeared to hang over her. The television screen soon lit up with a perfect 14 week old baby boy! The sound waves from the ultrasound machine stirred the life into excited motions! He flipped. He turned. He nodded. He touched his face. He moved every second with animation and exhilaration!

                The client smiled and looked up at her guest: “Do you see how active he is?” she asked her cousin. “I could never handle that in my life right now!” Confused at the reaction, Mikelle continued to explain the baby’s growth. After a few minutes of routine pictures and measurements, she activated the sound capabilities of the machine. The sound of a fast-paced heartbeat filled the room. This was a healthy, beautiful baby boy due just two days before the 5 month old son’s first birthday.

                Following the appointment, Mikelle asked the client to pick a baby blanket before they continued to the post-sonogram counseling. The client looked over to her cousin, saying, “I want you to pick out his blanket!” The cousin, still somewhat hesitant as if she was processing, chose a cozy blue blanket. Mikelle led the client to one of our counseling rooms, and the cousin, clutching tightly onto the blanket with a warm smile on her face for the first time, walked to the waiting room. The distance, the hesitation melted away!

                Mikelle asked the client how she was feeling after seeing the ultrasound. The woman beamed with joy and explained her excitement, her relief, and her cousin’s role in the entire story. She confirmed her report. She was planning on an abortion. She was terrified to have one again, but she just couldn’t parent this child. Thanks only to the God of the universe intervening, this young woman remembered her cousin. After many miscarriages, this beautiful relative recently carried a baby to the third trimester. However, due to violent and detrimental complications, her pregnancy-at 7 months-was terminated for the health of the mother. Thursday, however, changed the ending to this cousin’s dark story to have a family with her husband, because on Thursday, she saw her new son.

 

This client,

overwhelmed at the thought of parenting another child,

is giving the healthy baby boy to her cousin through adoption!

 

                Merriam-Webster defines adoption as the following: “to take by choice into a relationship; especially: to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) as one's own child”. Using the pen of the apostle Paul, Jesus Christ Himself defines adoption in Ephesians 1:4: “even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him”. This young woman chose the baby to be hers, even before he was born! She was to be his mother, through the body of her pregnant cousin. God, the Sovereign, loving Creator and King of the cosmos, chose us to be His, even before the foundation of the world. He was to be our Father, through the broken body of His only Son.  Thursday, we saw firsthand a beautiful yet earthly imitation of God’s perfect love for mankind!

                Pray for these two women as they move forward with their adoption plan. Pray for absolute peace. Pray for opened eyes to see the love of their Creator and the adoption plan He has crafted for them.

The Stripper's Story

A 19 year old woman asking for a pregnancy test is not uncommon at Community Pregnancy Center. In fact, 19 years old is the average age for our clients. In 2012, 64% of girls seen in our facility were under the age of 24, so when a 19 year old girl entered our doors, we were in our comfort zone in a way. However, this girl’s current age was not the one that identified her. Her ages leading her to 19 reveal the sordid story behind the beautiful face.

Birth:

• Her mother refuses responsibility, sending the child to her new grandparents.
• Her father has already disappeared from her life.

9 years old:

• The client’s grandmother dies, leaving her under the care of her grandfather.
• This sole caretaker refuses the child and sends her away to her aunt and uncle.
• While his wife lie with him, the uncle leaves his bed every night to sexually abuse his 9 year old niece.
• Scared and confused, the child tells another uncle of her nightly experiences. This man then tells the young girl’s father.
• Her father takes his child, who he doesn’t even know, to another country to escape. (Though evidence was drawn and testimonies given, the case against the perverted uncle never made it to trial.)

13 years old:

• She moves into the house with her now pregnant birth mother.
• She discovers that she herself is now pregnant.
• Once her mother gives birth, she disappears for days at a time, leaving her 13 year old, pregnant daughter to care for her newborn infant alone.

14 years old:

• She delivers her child, and chooses adoption.
• She suffers the heartache of giving her baby away, unsure if she will ever see the child again.
• Because the pregnancy matured and shifted the curves of her body, she chooses to become a stripper.

16 years old:

• She falls in love with a young man. He supports her financially, so she could stop stripping.

17 years old:

• She gives birth to their first child together.

19 years old:

• They are now engaged and expecting their second child.

                Suddenly 19 years old doesn't seem so average. This young woman, this teenager has experienced more agony-more “world”-than most people should know in an entire lifetime. She had been rejected by her own mother, her father, and her grandfather. She was raped on a regular basis by family. She gave away her first born child, when she, too, was just a child. She had been seen and touched in the most intimate ways by complete strangers. This was her life. This was all she knew: betrayal, perversion, and abandonment. She grew gravely familiar with the process of working her way out of her past.

                When asked about her relationship with God, she expressed a similar “works” belief. She cleaned up her life for her fiancé, so she assumed that she needed to clean up her life for God. She wasn’t quite where she wanted to be in her life, but she was getting close. Maybe she’d surrender to God…when she gives birth to this new baby. Maybe she’d lie in His arms…when she marries her fiancé. Maybe she would see herself as good enough then. Maybe after all these decisions, God would finally see her as worth His attention, worth His love.

                But that’s the point. As humans, as creation, we will never make enough right decisions to deserve the love of the Perfect Creator. There’s not a checklist in the Bible, detailing a road to righteousness. There’s not a set of magic words that will set us free from any past. There’s only Jesus. 

There’s only grace.

Our limited brains have not been functioning long enough to fully grasp even a fraction of grace, but it’s real, and it’s available. Our admittance to God’s presence is always open. Our forgiveness from God is guaranteed, because it’s wholly anchored in the victory of Jesus Christ-not in our works. Every wrong choice adds another death sentence to our growing death toll and more anger and judgment from God Himself, and no amount of reciting or working could ever eradicate such a debt-except the blood of the Son of God. Now, through a relationship with Him, God hears the scared confessions and He sees those mistakes, but He sees them through a lens of absolution. That death toll was paid for. That anger and judgment was already exhausted.

There’s only grace.

                As our Client Advocate explained the unashamedly good news of the Gospel, the 19 year old girl’s heart seemed to soften. Her past seemed to fade in the light of Christ’s love, but she still hesitated. She still held back, unsure if such a Savior could truly be THAT good to redeem such a life. Having permission, our Client Advocate prayed over the young woman before she left. Tears streamed down her face as if she sensed for the first time her Creator’s passionate pursuit to bring her home. Pray she realizes she can come unprepared and broken to the feet of God.

“Israel, put your hope in the Lord,

for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is FULL redemption.”

Psalm 130:7

2013 Walk for Life's Story

        
         The Community Pregnancy Center’s second annual Walk for Life was incredible! On February 23, 2013, we hosted our 5K at the San Jacinto Battleground, expecting and believing for God to show off! After days of rain, the morning could not have been more beautiful! The iconic Texas monument stood before a sky of blue! Though the temperatures reached below 50 degrees, not one drop of rain fell on us! God had big plans for that day, and the weather was certainly going to cooperate!

 Ladies from First Baptist Church of Pasadena lined our tables, ready to register every walker and runner! They bundled up in their blankets and welcomed the participators with a smile! Through their hard work, the registration for the Walk for Life was the smoothest registration that I have ever seen. In just an hour, they registered over 60 people-over DOUBLE the number of last year’s event!

People enjoyed the morning with their three mile walk through the park, talking with new friends, and eating a scrumptious breakfast! Starbucks Coffee and ChikFilA donated an entire table’s worth of food for the day, leaving our participators full after a long walk! God provided above and beyond our expectations for the day.

Though most people walked the course, some brave people, including two cross country high school students, ran our 5K race at 9:00 o’clock! In a record time of 21 minutes, Sarah Herweck (pictured below, far left) won the race! For her unbeatable time, she won two massages, donated by our friends at Massage Envy!

Donations are still pouring into the office, so a total count is not yet final. Regardless of the tally, God honored Community Pregnancy Center last Saturday! He gave us a clear morning, plenty of food, a smooth registration period, and over twice as many people as last year! That means that twice the people heard about our ministry here, twice the people saw God’s heart for the scared woman and her unborn baby, and twice the people now realize the importance of supporting LIFE!

                Thank you for your loving prayers and generous support over this event!

The "One More Question" Story

             After a long two weeks of sparse appointments and after one of our three yearly fundraisers, February 25^th came upon us. The appointments were booked, but, unfortunately, that doesn’t always translate into girls arriving to claim those appointments. Today, we did have some empty time slots, but God had a purpose today that shone beyond numbers. Today, God Himself personally called His creation by name to come to Him.

                The first appointment brought a couple in their upper twenties to counseling room 1. Though unmarried, they had been dating for over 10 years and already bore a young daughter. They both wanted a second child together, so this possible pregnancy was not unplanned, nor was it a crisis. This unborn baby would be entirely wanted and so very much loved! The client smiled to her boyfriend as they discovered the distinct two lines on the test. They were positive! They received the gift they desperately desired, but the client advocate asked one more question:

“Do you know if you’re going to Heaven?”

                The young woman quietly uttered a response full of doubt. Her boyfriend, though, looked to the client advocate and spoke his answer. He verbalized the too commonly believed lie that traps our 2013 society across the world. He looked into her eyes, and said,

“I hope I’ve been good enough to get into Heaven.”

                Unafraid and unsurprised by this response, our volunteer opened her heart and shared the Gospel with this young couple. She explained the God of love, the God who pursued mankind for centuries, and the God who damned His own Son to suffer our death toll JUST so a relationship with us could be an option to choose! She told them Heaven is reachable, but only through Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a set of rules or a distant hope that we might enter into Heaven one day. Christianity is an attainable, sustainable relationship with the God who crafted their very beings.

                Without looking at each other once, the couple listened intently to the message of Jesus, absorbing every single word. All of it, each detail made sense. With utmost sincerity, both the newly pregnant woman and her boyfriend accepted Christ to be their Savior! They prayed with our client advocate, and began their new relationships with their Creator!

                While this appointment was closing, another client entered counseling room 2 with our second client advocate. She was a 9^th grade student, skipping school to take her first pregnancy test. She denied the possibility to herself for weeks, but she couldn’t avoid the truth any longer. Her boyfriend was just sixteen. Both had three and half years left of high school. The teen unloaded her story, revealing her attempted suicide just one year previous. And now a baby? Surely not. After the 4 minute wait, however, the pregnancy test read positive.

                The client advocate talked through the definite reality with the young girl. In their conversation, the volunteer walked her from a place of indecision about moving forward to choosing to parent the unborn baby! The teen realized the support surrounding her! She chose life for her baby! The client advocate, however, asked one more question:

“Do you know if you’re going to Heaven?”

In complete calmness, she answered, “I don’t think that I will.”

                Feeling the presence of God Almighty in the room, our client advocate shared God’s heart. She told this young girl about a real God who created her on purpose and for a purpose. He loved her to such an unimaginable extent that He rejected His Son, so she would never have to feel His rejection again. He notices her. He plans for her. He wants her!  Again, the Gospel of Jesus Christ filled the air and reached deep into this listening heart. After the honest explanation of her loving King and Shepherd, this 9^th grade girl prayed and accepted Christ into her life!

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.”

 Romans 10:9-10

                It’s not about how many appointments are made in the book. It’s not about how many girls actually show up. It’s not about tallying up any numbers to impress an on looking community. It’s about these lost hearts hearing for the first time their compassionate Savior call their name. It’s about the softened souls reaching out for the outstretched arms that have always been open.

It always has been and always will continue to be about Jesus.

The Lost Caller's Story

2013 began with calls overwhelming our office to schedule pregnancy tests, yet the days for counseling have been thin. With 4 appointments scheduled for this morning, our counselors waited in the waiting room for the young women to arrive. The clock moved from ten to eleven, from eleven to twelve. Only one client showed up for her appointment. In the span of one week, we scheduled 27 individual appointments-only 14 girls came. That ratio of appointments to actual consultations is disheartening, when you stop and figure out the percentage of girls who seem to get lost. But, as all pregnancy centers know, you can’t look at the numbers. You must always look at the stories, because only these girls can speak volumes that numbers simply do not reflect.

Today

-the day when only one client arrived-

a heart changed.

Lola, our receptionist, answered the ringing phone with a typical greeting, asking what we can do. The caller was one of the no-shows-one of the “lost” ones. She was uncomfortable and very short in her speech. She just asked for a counselor to call her, because “she was going through some stuff”. Lola gathered her contact information, assuring the anxious voice that someone would call. She then laid the information on my desk. The “someone” was me.

Immediately, I dialed the number and walked into a dark, hopeless story. The young woman began by explaining who she thought was the source of her anger: Her boyfriend, the father of her unborn baby, is an abusive, destructive force in her life. Through his ravenous behavior, her housing in an established community in Pasadena evicted her and her two sons. With nowhere to stay, they moved to a depraved, hungry area of Houston. She explained each pursued yet failed avenue of hope. Her boyfriend, though he failed, reported her to Child Protective Services.  She then revealed the true source behind her anger.

In the past three years, she has had five abortions.

And she now wanted just one more.

“I’m alone. I have nobody. I just want an abortion, so I can leave this all behind me.”

I prayed over and over again in my head for words. “God, please tell me what to say. Please tell me what to say. Please tell me what to say.” She finally stopped her whirlwind story, and waited for my response.

I told her point blank that abortion is not her answer. The cost alone would be insurmountable, much less the physical and emotional side effects. I didn’t make a pretty pro-life speech, and I didn’t spend 10 minutes exposing Planned Parenthood’s secrets. This woman knew that pain. She knew the heartbreak of abortion five times over with a three year time span concentration. She knew that was not what she needed, but what else could help? What else could eradicate this horrific season of her life so she could start over? Before I answered that question, I promised her that abortion is not a “quick fix”. Abortion simply extends the shame and fear to an entire lifetime. She reluctantly, but finally agreed.

I then explained all the resources we have at our facility to help. I told her about Thursday’s Points to Success class, and the support she could feel every week here. In these classes, girls walk into familiarity, realizing that they’re not the only ones in an unwanted pregnancy. Girls see for themselves that it’s going to be ok. I offered this security to the caller, giving her all the practical resources I knew. The practical stuff is important, but God wanted me to say something else to her. God kept her on the line after my practical conversation and the silence that followed, because He wasn’t finished using the phone to speak to His scared, loved creation. I swallowed my own words, and spoke what only could have been God Himself.

“God never allows a crisis that He cannot restore.”

It came out of absolutely nowhere, except Heaven. God wanted her to hear the direct message that He has FULL power to reverse what we see on earth as a mistake or a problem. Nothing is too broken for His hands to redeem. No one is too lost for His arms to find. I told her how very much God loved her. She’s priceless. She’s noticed. She’s wanted. Her voice rattled. I could actually hear her anger melt away, as she discovered her Creator’s love.

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do?
Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness,
and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?” (Luke15:4)

With immeasurable and unimaginable determination, the Almighty God of the Universe pursues the lost. He doesn’t search for a day, a year, or a set time limit. He searches until he finds that lost soul. Maybe she didn’t show up to her appointment. Maybe she was on the other side of town, but God didn’t walk away. He pursued her deep into the hopeless apartment in Houston, Texas, until she called to hear His beckoning voice.