What do the following females have in common: a 15-year-old high school student, a 19-year-old college student, a 23-year-old full-time employee and a 32-year-old business owner? They are all clients who came to Assurance in the last few months considering abortion.
When a client comes here, she often has the worst day of her life. She is freaking out and feeling hopeless. She desperately wants to talk with someone who will listen to her without judging her. Many times, we are amongst the first ones they open up to about their pregnancy. Here are two of their stories.
“Stacy,” the 23-year-old client, wrote about her experience at Assurance:
“I recently found out I am pregnant, again. I have a six month old girl, who saved my life. Before her, I had been drinking regularly, smoking cigarettes, and experimenting with drugs. I also lived in a relative’s basement and had a deadend job that did nothing but support my habits. After finding out about my first pregnancy, all of that stopped. My daughter’s father, “Jacob,” moved out of his parent’s house, and went from working as a bartender to getting a job in law enforcement. We now have a two bedroom duplex, and neither one of us are doing the destructive things we used to. We are both back in church and I am so thankful for the direction that God has taken our lives.
Finding out about a second pregnancy was scary. At first we were unsure of how we would handle it. I had been searching on the internet for information about abortion when I found Assurance. Walking into that appointment, I was anxious and uneasy. I thought I wanted an abortion because it would make things easier for my newly formed family. I spoke with you, and you provided me with very helpful information, but somehow I had a feeling that I wasn’t there for the booklets. After leaving, I was sure I was keeping this baby. I felt at peace with my decision, and after praying about it, I realized I had known all along which choice I would make. Assurance helped me weigh my options, talk through my fears and ultimately lead back to the answer I already had. I walked out of the office feeling a sense of relief and because of you, I felt that God was leading me to make a difference in young women’s lives the way Assurance did in mine.”
The second client is “Melody,” a 32-year-old who had just gotten married a few months before she came to Assurance. Melody took a home pregnancy test the day before she came to Assurance that was positive. This is what Melody said about her experience at Assurance:
“When I came there I was a disaster. My mind was more scared than anything. My husband and I had a bad discussion before I came; he wanted to wait a year to have a child since we were newlyweds. I felt like getting pregnant was my fault. Since my husband wasn’t excited, it made me feel like I did something wrong. Speaking with you was the biggest help. Once I did tell my husband how I felt, he apologized because he handled things wrong.
You all were so non-judgmental. You listened so well. You told me about your experiences about learning to communicate in marriage and you referred me to a professional counselor to speak with after I left there. We decided to keep our baby. Coming there changed our lives forever! If you could’ve seen the look on my husband’s face (during the ultrasound at my Doctor’s office) when he found out we’re having a boy… it was priceless. My husband has changed over the past few months. He’s become more confident and he’s done things to get out of his comfort zone.
Assurance is a support network to listen to the people who come there. It’s helpful to talk with someone who is an outside person without feeling judged.”
It’s a joy to help people see their situation through the lens of hope instead of hopelessness. Having hope is God’s way of looking at things. It changes everything! Hope isn’t a feeling that we offer; it’s a vital personal relationship with God. We pray that God will give our clients joy and peace as they trust in Him so that they may overflow with hope (Romans 15:13). On the days we question if we’re making a difference, it gives us hope to remember the women who come to Assurance and who are thankful that we are here for them on maybe the hardest day of their life.
