By: Kayley Wilson, RN
Some weeks it just feels like I answer one abortion-minded Telehealth call after another. Of course, every call and every client situation are uniquely different, but there are some calls where you walk away wondering “What good did I even do?” Sometimes I receive what feels like the wrong end of the person’s crisis. It’s easy to lose some hope when the theme continues to run along the tracks of discouragement time and again.
But this call was different. It served as a reminder to me that no matter how many hard calls we have where we wonder if we did or said the right thing, the small voice of God can break through all our feelings of hopelessness. It’s a reminder of why we do what we do!
The client was young, scared, and still in school. Abortion, she said, was her only option. After taking the time to get to know her story a little, I walked through the options available to her. We discussed adoption and what that hard but brave choice looks like for the women who choose it. We discussed abortion procedures, side effects, and risks in detail, ensuring that she was fully informed on the reality of what abortion is. We discussed parenting and the importance of allowing herself time to process the news of her pregnancy and really think through each of her options rather than rushing into the decision to abort.
After a moment of silence, I heard a powerful shift in her voice. It represented a powerful change in her heart and mind: “I don’t know if I could live with myself if I went through with an abortion,” she said. “Maybe I don’t actually need to do that…I think I would be happy if I kept this baby.”
At the end of our consultation call, the client was eager to schedule an appointment with us in our Women’s Clinic the following week. By the time she came in for her appointment, the powerful shift I had initially heard in our discussion over the phone had taken full effect. She was now planning to parent, stating that abortion was completely off the table!
What an incredible reminder of our sweet Savior’s grace. It was not my words, my eloquence, or my influence that compelled this client to choose life for her unborn baby. The Lord was evidently at work in her life long before I even answered her phone call. It is the Lord Himself who changes hearts, rewrites stories, and redeems seemingly hopeless situations. And yet in His abundant kindness, He graciously invites us into his work as co-laborers. As Matthew 9:37 says, the harvest is plentiful indeed! We need only to make ourselves available to Him and His purposes.
We don’t always get to know what choices are made once a client walks out of our clinic. But we can rest assured that God knows. God doesn’t stop working and moving in a life once a client leaves our care. When I start to worry whether I said enough or did enough to change a client’s mind, I am reminded of these two truths: First, it is not my job to change minds and hearts because that power belongs to God alone! We just need to be made available for him to use! Secondly, God’s word never returns empty or void but always accomplishes that for which it was purposed (Isaiah 55:8-11). Thank you, Jesus, that your plans and your ways are so much higher than our own and thank you for inviting us into your Kingdom work!
