I heard the bell ring and opened the window. A pretty young woman rushed up and smiled broadly. “Hi! Do you remember me?” she asked. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings – and I did think she look familiar, so I evaded the question.

“You look so familiar – but I can’t put a name with your face…how can I help you?” By this time another young woman, an older woman, and a toddler had come into the reception area and it was obvious that they were all together.

She glanced over her shoulder at them and lowered her voice, “Can I come in and talk with you?” Her tone was so serious – and desperate – that I didn’t follow the protocol of having her fill out paperwork. I opened the door and invited her to sit with me in one of the counseling rooms.

She told me that she was my client three years earlier and I had shared a Bible verse with her that convinced her to have her baby. I went to the file cabinet and pulled her file. She had been very abortion-minded when she came in three years ago, but in the end had chosen to give life to her little girl. The toddler in the waiting room was the saved baby! I listened…

Her story came out in a rush of words, “You have to talk to my sister. We just came back from the abortion clinic. I tried to talk her out of it, but she and my mom were determined to go through with it. I didn’t even want to drive them there, but my mom has helped me so much that I couldn’t figure out how to tell them no.

The most amazing thing happened at the clinic. They did an ultrasound and told her that she was further along than they had first thought – now it was a second trimester abortion and she needed more money. She didn’t have it. They told her to get dressed and come back when she could pay the additional $200 fee. She made an appointment for three days later.

She came out crying and said, ‘What do I do now?’…I remembered how you helped me three years ago, so here we are. You showed such love for me. You have to talk to her – tell her that verse you told me about choosing life! Do you remember that you closed the office to go with me to the electric company and pay my light bill? When everyone in my life told me to get an abortion, you told me that you would help me choose life. You have to help my sister – it’s a miracle that she didn’t already have the abortion!”

I did remember her. I remembered that she cried when I read Deuteronomy 30:19 to her. I remembered locking the door of the center and driving to the electric company, wondering if I was wasting the ministry’s money in paying her electric bill. Would such an act of kindness really convince her to choose life for the child she carried?

I glanced over my notes from three years before and smiled when I read, “client indicated that she would carry to term.” The bouncy little girl in the waiting room was physical evidence that paying the electric bill led to life! Now someone this young woman loved was on the verge of making a terrible mistake. She had brought her sister to the lighthouse called Hope…what a privilege I had to share truth with her!

Protocol went out the window that day, as I brought the younger sister back to join us in the counseling room. There was no violation of confidentially – this was already an open family discussion. I asked the younger sister how she felt about what had happened at the clinic. She thought for a moment and then said a single word: “Relieved.”

We talked at length about God’s wonderful plan for her life. She confided that she had recently accepted Christ as her Savior when she went to church with her sister, but shortly thereafter had discovered she was pregnant. Satan had robbed her of her joy by accusing her and condemning her sin. Her primary thought was to escape the pregnancy, put the abortion behind her, and move on with her life. She was so open to hearing from God!

I shared Jeremiah 29:11 with her, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.” The tears had already started to fall and when I opened the Bible to Deuteronomy 30:19-20 and asked her to read, she choked out the words, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

It was silent in the room as the three of us pondered those words. After a few minutes, I asked her quietly, “What about that abortion appointment three days from now?”

“I can’t do it.”

How can four little words make your heart soar? How can four little words make you feel like a hero, a champion of life? I know that the almighty God had spoken to her heart – but I got to be there to witness the miracle of His work once again!

We talked a little more about a course of action for her to take and they stood to leave. Big sister moved to embrace me and whispered a muffled “Thank you – thank you so much!” into my neck. I asked for permission to hug little sister and she practically fell into my arms. I think she hugged me harder than anyone has ever hugged me before. She turned tear-filled eyes upon me and her face was glowing with joy as she said, “You’re gonna help lots of girls just like you’ve helped me.”

I pray that her words prove to be prophetic. I look forward to the day when two little cousins come back to visit me.

~Margy Richardson

A grateful center director

Hope Pregnancy Centers

Broward County, Florida

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