July 29, 2008

• URGENT

  I read in a book once that you should not say you are
  pro-life until you are willing to go up to unmarried women thinking about
  abortion and offer to adopt their child. Until then, it is just a stance on
  paper.

  I urgently need your prayers. Prayer power, protection, and
  all of that. Please stop and read this through.

  I got word yesterday that one of the girls at the youth
  center is pregnant, and going to have an abortion. I went to her house today.
  She said the abortion is not her choice, her mom is making her. She is 15. she
  starts school in a couple weeks. She is getting the abortion next week. 

  As I drove to her house I had been hit by an unexpected
  thought: “Would you be willing to give up Brasil for this baby?”

  I started crying as I told her there was no easy answer for
  her. It would be so hard to go to school being pregnant, get fat and all, and
  have a baby. But it would be even harder to know that she had killed that baby.
  I didn’t want to say that. I didn’t want to make this emotionally harder than I
  knew it would already be on her. But I had to keep speaking. As soon as the
  words came out, I knew they were the right ones, and I knew I would never take
  them back. I told her that I didn’t want her to believe that that was her only
  option. And that I would be there. I would pay for the medical bills, and I would
  adopt the baby. Because God has something special for this baby and the baby
  needs a chance to live. 

  She cried too. I told her I would talk to her mom, but she
  didn’t seem excited about that. So I wrote down my phone number and left. It
  was sort of awkward. Not romantic or heroic or anything. The TV was blaring the
  whole time.

  I need to go and talk to her mom. Please pray as I try to
  tomorrow. After I said those words, that I would adopt the baby, something
  happened. Suddenly it wasn’t just the baby. It became my baby. I love it
  already. Really weird. I know. Even though I cry and get all jumpy at the idea
  of being a mother. Of having responsibility. Of being tied down.
   

  1. Pray
     for this baby, its mama, and its grandma. That they would not go through
     with the abortion. That this baby would live. That my baby would live.
  2. Pray
     for me. My tickets are for August 6 to go to Brasil. I should know by then
     if she is going to have an abortion or not. If there is any hope that she
     might keep this baby, I cannot/will not go. If she does take me up on it,
     then I don’t anything about the future yet. Or Brasil.
  3. Pray
     for Anna. When she said I could write about their engagement on xanga, she
     didn’t know I meant now. And I didn’t know she wouldn’t have a chance to
     personally tell those close to her. So big opps on my side, and please
     pretend ignorance when she does let you know about her big news.  Right now, she is also praying about
     WHEN, so please pray for wisdom on that.
  4. Pray
     for Brasil, and the ministry there. They need teachers, very badly.
     Especially if this one isn’t going. 

  This whole day has been up in the air already. Anna has
  talked about wanting to get married in November. I, of course, will be here for
  the wedding. But I was not planning on returning to the US until the
  end of 2009. My savings consists of enough money for an emergency ticket to and
  from Brasil, so that is what I figured on happening.

  But it also makes sense to then look into waiting and going
  after the wedding. I wouldn’t be able to finish the semester in Brasil,
  teaching, or going to college there. There are other things that have fallen
  into place as well. If I stayed until a November wedding, I could help plan the
  wedding. I only have one sister, and she only marries once (right?) I could
  also go to college here (taking classes packed into 8 weeks). I just got a
  letter in the mail saying I received the federal grant, as well as a state
  scholarship, meaning that after classes, I would receive a refund of around
  $2000. (Don’t ask me how that works, but it does, since I am going to a
  community college). I also was offered a job at the youth center part time.
  Plus I would be saving the money I would have spent on a ticket. That adds up
  to quite a lot of money saved. 

  But this is not about saving money. I don’t want to stay
  because it seems like the COMMON SENSE thing to do. And I don’t want to go just
  because I feel the RESPONSIBILITY and GUILT if I don’t. I want to go because I
  know it is where God wants me. I want to stay because I know it is where God
  wants me. I want to do the right thing, but both things look right and are good
  and…those seem to be the ones that are the trickiest.

  And I don’t want Anna feeling like she has to make a
  decision, or be squeezed into something. And I don’t know anything about this
  baby and its mother. And I really love Brasil. 

  I have this feeling that this week is going to change my
  life. Not just the decision to stay or the decision to go—but those choices
  will then lead to other choices that will dictate the rest of my life. I
  know—more than anything—that I am at the right place. That God has taken me to
  this point. I just don’t know where it goes from here.
  

  << Job 23:10 >>
  

  ---

  New American Standard Bible (©1995)
  “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

  GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995)
  [I can't find him] because he knows the road I take. When he tests me, I’ll come out as pure as gold.

  King James Bible
  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

  Young’s Literal Translation
  For He hath known the way with me, He hath tried me — as gold I go forth

  • 7:27 pm
  • 19 Comments