One of the most popular debates of our day is the pro-life and abortion topic. I must declare in honor of Mother’s Day that I am pro-life because of my mother.

A Humbling Choice

In 1982 my mother came home to her parents expecting a child. She would become an unwed mother at the age of 20. After living away from home for some time, she humbled herself and asked if she could come home. My grandparents received her back home declaring they would make lemonade out of life’s lemons.

A Decision to Make

My mother contemplated the decision on whether to keep the child or give the baby up for adoption. As a Christian, she knew if she were to give up the baby, the adoptive family might not tell her baby about Jesus Christ or the gift of salvation. She decided to keep the baby so she could teach her child about salvation herself.

The Baby’s Birth

The baby was born on a Sunday in the middle of a blizzard at a local hospital. Unexpectedly the baby was seen a deep blue color, believed to be dead. The baby finally stopped holding her breath and began crying. My mother was relieved and hopeful as she looked at her new daughter. The next week, she had the baby in church and was faithful to see she was in church for the rest of her childhood.

In a recent debate I had with a lady on Facebook, she was declaring that a mother should have a right to choose when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. She told me that I had no understanding of how hard life could be with an unwanted baby. I told her I did understand the hardships of that life because…

That baby was me.

A Testimony of Love

My mother lived with my grandparents until she was married when I was 4 years old. She went on to have 2 more daughters with my stepdad. When I was 14 years old, between my 7th and 8th grade year she was divorced. She was so kind to keep me in the same school district I had lived in since Kindergarten so that I could attend our small community school and graduate together with my long-time friends. She worked cleaning other people’s homes to pay for our home and needs and even blessings besides.

My single mother worked hard to instill into us good character, she taught us to work hard, to be faithful in the mundane. She taught us to listen to the needs of others as she ministered to other divorced women that she met along the way. My mother is not a perfect woman, but she is a passionate person for what she believes in. She loves the Lord and has taught me the most about how to serve others even when they may walk away and be ungrateful for your help when their problems have subsided. She continues to serve God in ministering to people, loving and going the extra mile, so she can make a difference for Christ.

When I was 12 years old at church camp, the Lord began speaking to my heart about serving Him in the ministry and I surrendered that week to His call. I came home and told my mother. There were times that I began walking away from God’s call on my life and my mom plainly declared that she did not want a “Jonah” living in her home running away from God. Her reminders helped me finally make it to Bible College where God kept working in my life and you can figure out the rest!

I am Pro Life Because of My Experience

I have seen God take the problems of life and use them for His purposes. He can take an unexpected child and use that child for His glory. He can demonstrate His faithfulness through being the Father to the fatherless for those without fathers. He can be and do what we cannot when we are faced with our greatest of difficulties. Terminating a pregnancy and killing a life eliminates God’s ability to do what He plans to do with that life. It places our will above His.

The Bible says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

God never promises that the consequences for our actions will not be difficult to deal with when we step out of God’s plans for sexual relationships or that the selfish choices someone made toward us, in the situation of rape, will not be painful. God allows difficult situations in life so that we will turn our hearts toward Him. He promises in this verse, that if you love Him, He will work all things together for good. Have you turned your heart toward God if you are in a situation like this?

My plea to those in the dilemma of choosing, life or death…

If you choose to keep your child, I can promise that life is precious and joy can be found in the person God brings to your life if you allow it. An unplanned pregnancy may cause heartache, difficult memories, or regret. But what about the multiplied blessings that can be in your life because of it?

Only God can make the good outweigh the bad in any situation of our life where we do not understand why He allows things to happen. You never know when the hardest time of your life may become a blessing in disguise.

Life is precious because life is a gift. It is more than a choice. Life at the moment of conception is a soul. It is a soul that is made in the image of the Creator, Himself, who loves us more than we could imagine. He first loved us before we were born. He created us in love with the hope we would turn to Him and love Him in return.

My Mother’s Faith

I love my mother because my mother loved my life first. I John 4:19 says about God, “We love him, because he first loved us.” God allowed me to see the picture of Himself through the love of my mother. God provided His Son Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world, He knew His plan would be to sacrifice His Son because sin would enter the world, but He created man anyway. I am thankful that my mom loved me so much, and that one day at 4 years old I was able to accept Christ as my Saviour with her one day as she cooked spaghetti in our kitchen. She had faith in the moment she made the decision to keep me, that God would work in my heart and life, and He did!

Will you dare to love your child first?

I pray that if you are deciding whether to keep your baby or to have an abortion, that you would take a step of faith and trust that God loves you and your baby more than you even know or realize and that He can take both of your lives and change them for His glory. That your life will have a special story, if you will turn to Him and trust Him alone, for the answers. Your baby is precious and you have an opportunity to allow God to take what may seem bad and use it for good.

Thank you Lord for a mother that cherished my life. Thank you mom, for loving me, and teaching me about the Lord. I love you!