This past week we had an ultrasound scheduled for a very abortion-minded young woman. Her pregnancy test had recently showed positive and she was afraid. She was afraid of what this may mean for her. Could she really parent a living, breathing child? The fear of the unknown and of being alone left her in a corner. She sought advice and counsel from HOPE, but she also wanted to hear from friends.

We told her things would be okay. We informed her of the options in front of her. We consoled this young lady as the news rocked her. We also prayed for her and the decisions she would be making in the very near future. We offered all we could, not knowing if that was enough to save her and the precious child in her womb. The wisdom offered by her closest of friends showed another side to life. They informed her that this was not a baby but, instead, was a fetus. She was too early for anyone to consider this bundle of cells inside of her a child. She didn’t need this right now. She had her whole life to have kids. This young lady heard both sides, but there was another side of this argument we did not consider. There was another person involved that we neglected to consult. This young lady had yet to tell the father of this child that she was pregnant. She was nervous because they had recently ended their relationship. Think about the turmoil this young lady was facing. A relationship with a man she loved has ended and now a pregnancy…a pregnancy she had not planned and a life change she certainly did not see coming. This news coupled with HOPE and her closest friends’ advice must have really put this young lady in a dark, uncomfortable, and confusing place.

The story doesn’t end there. Last week this young lady decided she was going to tell her ex-boyfriend that she was pregnant with his baby. She was going to tell him because she wanted someone to be there with her when she had an abortion…she did not want to go through that alone. This was her plan, but something happened that night. Something happened in that room with a young lady deeply hurt and confused and a young man that had no idea what he was about to hear. Something happened that HOPE could not have predicted. Something happened that this young lady’s friends could not predict. Something happened and it was special. When this young man heard the news from this young lady and her plans of an abortion, something beautiful happened. This young man’s response was not anger or neglect. This young man responded by stepping up to the plate. He looked at this scared young woman and said, “We are going to put our differences aside and we are going to have this baby.” Did you hear that?! This young man said in a very simple and direct way, “We can do this.” He offered support, and I am here to tell you that watching them interact after seeing their healthy baby’s ultrasound was a glorious picture of God’s grace.

There are a lot of sad days here at HOPE. We see brokenness every single day. We see young women that have been hurt. We see people that have never felt love. We see all of this, but we keep coming back. We keep going to work, we keep praying, and we keep loving. We keep at it because we know that our God is bigger than any sad day we can face. We know that our God is bigger than counsel provided by friends or, quite frankly, by HOPE. Our God can bring two broken people back together for His glory.Think about that! This baby was on the brink of being aborted. This baby, simply because of its unplanned arrival, was going to be ignored, but God had other plans.

Are you prepared to “step up to the plate”? Are you prepared to walk into the fire and risk getting burned? If so…I would strongly encourage you to join us here at HOPE in our work. The story I detailed above is not a rare occurrence. We see stories like this every week. We believe strongly in this work and in this community. Sure, we live in a broken world, but God in his vast mercy allows us to see victories every day. Victories that save an unborn life, a scared young woman, an unprepared dad, and a broken relationship. God is so good!