Inspiring remarks by Birthmothers Founder and President Jim Wright from our 2013 Birth Mothers Day Brunch about the power of one-on-one ministry to women and men who face an unplanned pregnancy — and the impact of choosing life and adoption where appropriate.
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Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. (Matthew 25:21, NIV)
Based on a true story
Image: Southern Mamas
Teri gave birth to triplets at 24 weeks gestation. Miraculously, they survived.
As a single mom with three premature infants, Teri knew she needed help. The birth father was not in the picture and Teri had few friends in the city. She reached out to Birthmothers for support.
One volunteer offered to help with feedings. One provided a crib. Another sent meals. Still another agreed to deliver everything.
Jesus affirmed the servants who are faithful in “a few things,” which translates into “small amounts.” Our faithfulness is measured in the small steps we take in responding to His call.
Your small acts of service may not seem like much to you. But to Teri, they add up. To God, they represent a willing heart. You help women to choose life when you back up your encouragement with small acts of service.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the opportunities you place before us each day and each week to perform small acts of service for those who face an unplanned pregnancy. Open my eyes to those opportunities. Show me how to offer practical help alongside verbal encouragement for women to choose life.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prolife Volunteers Find Healing While Helping
I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.
(Proverbs 4:11, NIV)
Most people believe an unplanned pregnancy means a choice between three options: abortion, parenting, or adoption.
Yet in reality, there are more alternatives than just those three.
Heavenly Father,
Those who face an unplanned pregnancy face monumental decisions. Allow them to seek complete information. Show them the steps to take. Guide their hearts and minds to make choices that honor You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Informed Consent Helps Women Choose Life
Reasons Women Give for Ending a Pregnancy
Say “Thank You” to the Women in Your Life Who Have Chosen Life
I have chosen you and have not rejected you. (Isaiah 41:9, NIV)
An unintended pregnancy (also called an unplanned pregnancy) is one that was not expected nor desired at the time of conception. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. (49%) are unplanned.
Unplanned pregnancies themselves fall into two categories:
Regardless of how the mother views the pregnancy – planned or unplanned, mistimed or unwanted – God plans each one, times each one perfectly, and desires the life of each conceived child to come to fruition.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the conception of each life. Whether a pregnancy is intended or unintended, mistimed or unwanted, move in hearts of pregnant women to see that You plan each one. Give them what they need to choose life.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Let love be genuine. (Romans 12:9, RSV)
Juliette and Janine Turner
Actress Janine Turner was nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe awards for her role as Maggie O’Connell on the 1990s CBS’s hit show Northern Exposure. Today she hosts a radio talk show and is founder of Constituting America , an educational outreach. Yet Janine’s most-cherished role is that of single mother to Juliette, born in 1997.
Though she did not plan on becoming a single parent, “Life presented itself to me in this way,” says Janine. “I have never, for one moment, doubted that God designed Juliette to be born, no matter the circumstances. God wanted Juliette to be here. He sees eternity in perspective.”
Janine’s fervent belief (that 90% of single mothers fill a role they never intended) led her to not just stand for life, but speak out to support women who choose life and raise children on their own. She sought out and recorded stories of single mothers throughout history in her book, Holding Her Head High (Thomas Nelson, 2008). These women lived with dignity, faith, and compassion, leaving an indelible legacy – a legacy Janine believes all single mothers and birth mothers can experience, too.
A woman who choses life should not be left to walk alone, pelted with grim statistics, or condemned. “The blatant disregard for the life of the woman who chooses life, and for the life of her child, is duplicitous,” says Janine. She believes there is another way. If we encourage women to choose life, says Janine, we must support them concretely, emotionally, and personally as they raise their children. To do otherwise is wrong.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your unconditional love and acceptance! Help us to reflect that same kind of love to women who face an unplanned pregnancy. Let our love be genuine. Help these women know they are valued and cherished. Let that unconditional love begin with me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Star Trek Captain Shares Her Story as a Birth Mom
Your eyes saw my unformed body. (Psalm 139:16, NIV)
Journey of a New Baby, Weeks 1-8
Image: Rachel’s House
Many pregnant women are unaware of how their baby is developing during the first weeks immediately after conception.
The beginning of the third week after conception marks the time when a fertilized, implanted egg becomes recognizable as a distinct human being.
About 22 days after conception, the neural tube forms. This tube will later develop into the central nervous system, which includes the spinal cord and brain.
Around the fourth week, the head begins to form, followed by the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. The blood vessel that will become the heart begins to pulse, signaling the formation of the cardiovascular system.
During the fifth week, buds that form the arms and legs appear. By the eight week of development, the body’s basic organs and parts are in place (except the sex organs) – even knees and elbows. At this point, the unborn’s weight is just one gram and its length is just one inch.
Heavenly Father,
I praise You for the miracle of life! Your eyes saw my unformed body while You were weaving me together in my mother’s womb. Look down this day on those who face an unplanned pregnancy. Allow them to grasp the miracle growing within them.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Human Babies: the Most Dependent Species at Birth
If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:3, 5, NIV)
Large numbers can be difficult to conceptualize.
Take 1.2 million, for instance. It’s a big number – too big for most of us to have on the balance line of our checkbooks. It’s even harder to visualize what 1.2 million people look like.
But 1.2 million is easier to get our minds around with a tangible equivalent … say, as the combined population of two states (Vermont and Wyoming.) All of the sudden we see 1.2 million in concrete terms: people, families, schools, communities, and towns. The figure represents the myriad of lives in two entire states. Now the number is personalized. It has a more measurable value.
With that in mind, consider this: how would our nation handle the loss of the entire population of two states in the span of one year?
1.2 million is not only the combined population of Vermont and Wyoming. It is also the average number of abortions in the United States in a year.
As the numbers rise, personalization is lost. Our nation’s trend is to see those lost lives in numbers, not as individual people. But each unborn child is not just a number. Each of the 1.2 million represents an individual life.
Just ask the good folks in Vermont and Wyoming.
Heavenly Father,
We cry out for your mercy. Move us beyond looking at mere numbers. Pierce our nation’s heart to grasp the tremendous value of each life. Let us see every one as an individual. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
4 Trends in the Pro-Life Battle
Cultural Attitudes: Indifference towards Life
Cultural Attitudes: Desensitization
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:12-13, NIV)
Research suggests that people can become more desensitized to real-life violence after repeated exposure to violent films or video games. Their emotional responses weaken.
The link between exposure to evil and desensitization is not new. Matthew 24:12 says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” Increasing exposure to brutality makes people less likely to feel shock or distress at scenes of cruelty, violence, or suffering.
Is that not the case with the value of a baby’s life? Americans are repeatedly exposed to the idea that a woman “has a right to choose,” desensitizing a large number to the truth about life and hardening compassion towards unborn children. According to a Newsweek poll, 42% Americans believe life does not begin until a child is viable outside the womb or until it has been born. Pain to the unborn rarely enters the discussion, although a baby can experience pain as early as 5 ½ weeks after conception and most certainly, according to data, at 20 weeks.
Yet while “the love of most will grow cold,” not all will. God has left a remnant to stand for life. Furthermore, hope remains for those whose hearts have grown cold. They are not yet dead. God can move after the darkest winters to reawaken hearts to His truth and warm them with a love and compassion for the unborn.
Heavenly Father,
We lay our nation’s hearts before You and cry out to You for mercy. Strengthen the remnant. Move in people to reawaken hearts that have become desensitized and cold. Warm our hearts with a love for You and for the unborn.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
4 Trends in the Pro-Life Battle
Cultural Attitudes: Indifference towards Life
Cultural Attitudes: Depersonalization
By standing firm you will gain life. (Luke 21:19, NIV)
At the start of Passion Week, Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowds.
It would have been tempting, from that point to the end, for Jesus to bask in the adoration and “check out” – that is, for Him to dismiss His responsibilities and use His remaining days to simply enjoy life. Jesus knew what was to come. Shouldn’t He have a respite before the arrest and crucifixion?
But instead, during those remaining days Jesus continued with the mission to which He’d been called. He taught. He invested in relationships. He confronted religious leaders. He encouraged believers to stand firm when challenged.
Living With Courage
Those who face an unplanned pregnancy know what is to come. A due date has been determined. A child will enter the world.
Courage: should you take it or leave it? During that time of preparation, it can be tempting to “check out” – whether by escape, denial, or ignoring the turn of events. Yet Jesus’ example reminds us to stay on mission. Any season of life can be productive, even when a major change is about to occur, when faced with courage and conviction.
Scripture tells us that most people will give up when faced with the challenge of faithfulness. For those who are pregnant and did not plan to be, standing firm and carrying out God’s call may not be the easiest course of action. Nor is pressing forward to love God and serve Him (Matthew 24:10, 12).
But it’s the most fulfilling and rewarding.
Heavenly Father,
Strengthen hearts of those facing an unplanned pregnancy. Remind them of Jesus’ steadfastness in the face of an earthshaking event. Give these women and men the courage and tenacity they need to stand firm and carry out Your call on their lives.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Two Cries of Hosanna
Jesus, Jewish Leaders, and Pregnant Women
At Easter: How Jesus Honored Women
I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. (Isaiah 45:3, NIV)
“The daffodils are up!”
It’s a cry of joy that greets every gardener in the spring. How eagerly we look for the tips of spring bulbs as they poke through the soil after a cold, dark winter!
Months before, those bulbs were intentionally planted with the promise of a later bloom. But the process of growth takes awhile. Flowers-to-be remain hidden beneath the soil’s surface while roots develop. A bud grows from the stem, pressing upward. Food and water in the bulb tissues nourish the bud. Finally, the bud develops into a plant which blossoms above ground.
The process of a bulb blooming into a flower has been often compared with pregnancy. Like flowers, the seed of a new life has been planted by God. And like flower bulbs, a baby develops hidden from our view (notwithstanding today’s advanced ultrasound technology.)
Those who face an unplanned pregnancy (and those that work in the cause for life) may even live through their own period of cold and darkness while waiting.
Yet God works through the winter. And He shows Himself in the spring.
Spring bulbs bloom brilliantly, even after winters of darkness. A new baby offers new hope. Christ burst forth from the tomb to give us new hope and new life. Every life given by God promises joy and hope of a new season.
To those who face an unplanned pregnancy, encourage them with this truth: you just need to make it through the winter.
Heavenly Father,
Move in hearts of those facing an unplanned pregnancy to see beyond the immediate. Give them a taste of your hope. Show these women and men that every life is from you and offers tremendous joy.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Renewal for the Cause of Life, Part 1: Clean Out