A Hope Story
Ann is a client who attended our Points to Success classes. Her baby is now about 3 months old, and he is such a blessing, so when her friend Carri came to her for a ride to planned parenthood, for a medical abortion, Ann contacted the Community Pregnancy Center of Pasadena. We were able to schedule an appointment for the following day.
When Carri arrived, with Ann and another friend. She had already visited planned parenthood and gathered timing and information on the medical Ru_486 abortion procedure. Even though she knew abortion was wrong, her mind was made up, and the plan was in place.
Ann convinced her to keep her appointment with the client advocate, and her story poured out:
· She was 2-years short of completing her teaching degree.
· The father of this child did not want a child and had said that he would not participate in the raising of a child, or provide financial aid.
· There are family issues, and Cari is terrified of telling her mom she is pregnant.
Carri really believed that it was better to abort this child, rather than deal with the issues she was facing. But Ann didn’t believe that. Her friend didn’t believe and the CPC client advocates knew there were other options open to Carri. They talked about :
· school, grants, scholarships, and raising a baby at the same time one finishes school.
· child support and dead-beat dads
· the love and support of family and friends
We offered Carri and ultrasound, but she emphatically stated: “No!, I do not want to see this baby”. When the ultrasound technician went to give Carri other information, she offered an ultrasound to just confirm the age of the baby, so that when Carri arrived at planned parenthood she would know exactly how far along she was (which makes a difference in price and procedure). The tech promised that the screen would be turned away, this was just for Carri’s information, no pressure to look or make a decision.
At CPC Pasadena, we do not judge our clients. We offer the truth and we offer hope. The Holy Spirit is at work all the time. We encourage client advocates to pray often, and to never be afraid to take a break and enlist the aid of Heavenly Father through prayer. Our client advocates made sure they prayed before inviting Carri into the counseling room. Although Carri had no spiritual ties, she was moved by the faithfulness of these two followers of Jesus. They heard the message that God spoke and responded.
Carri didn’t know exactly what she felt that day, but the peace in the room gave her the courage to say, “Yes, let's make sure I have this all right before I get to planned parenthood.” Once she had the courage to say yes, God, only had to make that baby’s heartbeat loud enough for the doppler to pick up the “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh” of a baby heartbeat; Carri’s head turned towards the ultrasound screen, the corners of her mouth turned up. Her friends, who had joined her by now beamed at that little baby on the screen, while Ann’s baby cooed from his seat in the room. It was the perfect alignment of circumstances.
Ann is still nervous, she has a long way to go, but now she can see there is hope where she could see none. Now she knows that she must talk to her mom. But she also knows that there are people who love her and care, who will stand with her through this pregnancy and as she raises a child.
Community Pregnancy Center is a pro-abundant-life pregnancy resource center. We care about more than that baby. We care about the mom. We care that she has peace, feels loved, and that she can provide for her baby, not just food and shelter, but life abundant.
