With Thanksgiving coming up next week, now is the perfect time to reflect on all that the pregnancy help community does on a daily basis.
I’m thankful for the privilege of offering a few thoughts about those involved in this great work.
Here’s what I appreciate about what you do every day:
1. You save preborn human lives
That’s your core mission, and you do it well. You provide advocates who are trained in helping those who face unplanned pregnancies explore their options. You support them emotionally, provide accurate information, and offer ultrasounds so mothers (and fathers) can meet their babies for the first time.
The services you graciously offer free of charge have saved countless people’s lives.
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2. You heal hearts and souls ravaged by abortion
You come alongside women who have experienced abortion without judgment. You introduce them to the healing grace of Christ and provide the remedy for their wounds. You also reach out to men who were either part of an abortion decision, or who have been devastated by the death of a child they were helpless to rescue.
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By means of post-abortion recovery ministry, you facilitate the transformation of many lives—lives which touch many other lives. In this way, you spread hope and healing throughout your community.
3. You spread the good news about Jesus
Many of the people you serve would never darken the door of a local church—but when they come through your doors, you allow them to process their thoughts about spiritual matters in a way that feels safe to them.
You ask them open-ended questions. You listen to their stories. You introduce them to a God who loves them.
Many of the folks you serve make an even bigger decision than a life decision for their child. They take hold of the abundant, eternal life available through Christ for themselves and their families as well.
4. You transform your community
On a regular basis, you see the folks whose last names are familiar to all the cops and nurses in town. But you don’t think ill of them, nor do you speak condescendingly about them. Instead, you speak blessing over their lives and families.
You believe for better things. You hold out hope for a brighter future.
You understand that neither a person’s past nor the generational patterns in their family determines who they are. You know God is bigger than those factors, so you communicate hope and truth to those you serve.
Your attitude is a game-changer for those you serve.
5. You touch a confused and broken generation
Young women and men today must find their way in what is arguably the most confusing time in the history of humankind, sexually speaking.
Boys and girls face incredible pressure to become sexually active at younger and younger ages, robbed of the innocence that should be theirs to enjoy. Along with the pressure to become sexually active, kids face the added pressure toward the false choice of choosing their gender, as though their biology does not inform them of this.
When a girl comes into your center, you’re aware she may be dealing with much more than an unplanned pregnancy. She may be experiencing deep-rooted identity issues. She may be suffering from sexual abuse, set up for a repeated cycle of empty sexual encounters.
She may believe she is only worth what she gives out sexually.
You’ve been a student of culture, so none of this takes you by surprise. You know how valuable this young woman truly is as God’s image-bearer. You’re prayerfully prepared for a trust-building conversation that could change everything for her.
6. You value obedience to God above being politically correct
There’s a loud, angry culture out there shouting that women deserve the right to have abortions (among other things contrary to God’s law). You calmly carry on, not giving in to the bullies.
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You know what a human being is worth. You know that we thrive when we live within the boundaries God has set for us. So you carry out God’s law of love with courage and perseverance, despite the resistance you face in the culture, the media and even face to face.
You’re not concerned about whether everyone likes you. You’re concerned with pleasing your heavenly Father.
Last, but certainly not least,
7. You show the people you serve (and the people who oppose you) what God is like
“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
This is “agape” love. It’s the way God loves us and the way we love others when we let Him love them through us.
This is the kind of self-sacrificial love you demonstrate day after day, week after week. . You love when you’re tired. You love when you’re under financial pressure. You love when others devalue and oppose the wonderful work you do.
Many of the babies whose lives you’ve rescued will never know to thank you. Many of the clients you serve may not show gratitude .
But one day, you will stand before your Lord, and I suspect you will hear these words from Him:
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
In the meantime, may I express my appreciation?
Thank you so much for what you do on behalf of the unborn.
Thank you for what you do for women and men hurt by abortion.
Thank you for what you do for our communities and our youth.
Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world.
In so many ways, your work makes a big, big difference.
Editor's note: This week is Heartbeat International's Pregnancy Help Appreciate Week, during which Heartbeat honors those working within the pregnancy help movement. Click HERE for more information.
