Hold on. . .God will see you through

As I drove home early yesterday morning (4:30am) from taking my husband to work, a rush of difficult memories came over me. While simply focusing on getting back home and into bed, I was being summoned back to places I hadn't thought about in awhile.

Feelings of sadness were felt as scenes were quickly played out for me in order. I remembered how hard it was, how I didn't know at the time how I would make it through, how it felt like more than I could bear.

Feelings of relief were felt as I fast forwarded to now. I recalled how God sustained me, how His strength filled me, and how He has never abandoned me.

It's in our memories that God can move, whether He's healing the pain of those memories, or reminding us of how powerfully He has been with us every step of the way.

God wanted me to remember, and He wants you to know...HE'S WITH YOU.

While many are busy celebrating, I know many are hurting very deeply.

Hold on. . . God will see you through; soon this will be one of those memories.

Seize Your Time

It's been a year since I've last written; a year that has flown by.

Time in general, is moving at a pace much quicker than I can ever recall as a young girl. The journey we call "life", is an exciting one that certainly does not lack adventure.

I am quick to realize that "exciting" and "adventurous" are not the words everyone might choose to describe their life journey. As I've been contemplating this issue of time, I'm reminded of the importance of seizing every given moment.

Abortion has a way of robbing your time. Many days and years are spent in silent torture, without ever realizing that it doesn't have to be that way. You have yet to discover that there is hope for tomorrow; that hope is found in the Bible, Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (NKJV)

I can remember when I first discovered that scripture. The days of my life then, were at a dead stop due to having 2 abortions. I was without any hope of a future whatsoever. In that desperate state, I chose to seize the opportunity to ask God for His forgiveness and invite Him to be the lord of my life. I had nothing to lose. Upon making that important decision, time quickly became my friend again. I realized there was indeed a promise of a future and a hope for my life, and I've clung onto that promise ever since, as tight as I can, daily applying it to my life.

21 years later, I'm so glad that I have. His promises are true. Although time may be passing at a considerably quick rate, I have a future and a hope of goodness that fills every given moment of my time. This is the "excitement" and "adventure" I refer to.

Abortion is not the end, but so often, just the beginning. Call out to Jesus and surrender all that has bound you. He will remove your sin and your burden,  and you'll never ever be the same again! Although abortion may change you, JESUS promises to accept you, free you, and give you and future and a hope. You may not feel deserving, but the goodness of our God does not base His love and forgiveness on what we deserve. He loves us unconditionally with complete mercy and embrace, no matter what we've ever done.

Surrendering my despair for that promise proved to be the wisest choice I've ever made. It can be for you, too.

Seize your time and receive that promise of a future and a hope for your life!

Call out to Jesus right now!

Stronger...Wiser...Better

I know...I know...it's been months! What can I say? I've been enjoying the summer with my family! Call it some vacation time if you'd like. Without much notice, I know. But we've been having a wonderful time together though, and I'm thankful for every bit of it.

As I was driving home yesterday from football practice, I listened to Marvin Sapp. As he sang, my soul did too sing. I just about jumped out of my skin thinking about the goodness of God...on how blessed and fulfilled I feel because of Him and the things He has placed in my life. I was taken back for a moment by just how far it is He has brought me. I recalled the misery that once bound me from my abortions and how it was I never thought I'd be happy again. I recalled how Jesus entered my life and changed it all up, making me new and placing more goodness in it than I could ever deserve. It's so much more than I sometimes feel able to contain! I thought about how I never would have made it without Him!

Abortion can seemingly ruin you, but I assure you that it is not the finality you might be feeling. God has a masterpiece in mind just for you, no matter the mistakes, no matter the sin, and it's one that He'll continue to perfect just as long as you'll let Him.

God came into my life 20 years ago, and you'd just never believe the work that He's done in those years. Because of Him, I'm stronger....wiser....better!

Be encouraged as you listen to this song. God has you and He always has!

Abortion Risks

Most women are not properly informed of the potential risks of abortion before they have the procedure. It's often only after the fact and because of being directly affected when these truths are discovered.

A lack of information does not justify abortion, but it certainly does play a role. It is my desire to share this for awareness sake only, and NOT to plant any element of fear or panic within you if you've had an abortion. Although I will be sharing facts and some statistics that you may directly relate to, I encourage that the final authority to be applied to these potential negative outcomes should always be the word of God. Man's report says one thing, God's report says VICTORY in all things! You will find how this directly applied to my experience with infertility at the conclusion of this.

So, here we go.

There are immediate complications that can occur from abortion, such as:

Infection

Excessive bleeding/hemorrhaging

Ripping or perforation of the uterus
Cervical injury

Endotoxic shock

Other (and sometimes associated) injuries can manifest later. One of the most common examples of this is inflammation of the cervix. As harmless as it may sound, the results of this side effect can tend to be very severe. One of the things that it can lead to is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), which can eventually permanently damage the female reproductive organs, leading to infertility.

Because of the injury that can happen to the lining of the uterus during abortion, Placenta Previa becomes of significantly increased risk for later pregnancies. Abnormal development of the placenta due to uterus damage increases the risk of fetal malformation, perinatal death, or excessive bleeding during labor. Placenta Previa is seven to fifteen times more common among women who have had abortions than among those who haven’t.

In addition, uterine damage may result in complications eventually evolving into problems requiring a hysterectomy, subsequently resulting in a number of additional complications and injuries including Osteoporosis.

Risk of having an Ectopic Pregnancy after an abortion is greatly increased. Ectopic Pregnancies can also result in reduced fertility and can even be life threatening.

Women with one abortion double their risk of Cervical Cancer, compared to non-aborted women. Women with two or more abortions multiply their risk nearly five times. It is estimated that about three thousand women die from Cervical Canter in the U.S. each year. Similar elevated risks of Ovarian and Liver Cancer have also been linked to single and multiple abortions. These increased cancer rates for post-aborted women are apparently linked to the unnatural disruption of the hormonal changes which accompany pregnancy.

Infertility can result due to a variety of possible causes from abortion, especially if there were complications in the abortion(s). Chances obviously increase if you decide to have more than one abortion. Abortions can be held as an accountable problem for at least thirty percent of women who are experiencing problems with infertility.

Next, I will be sharing the connection with breast cancer and abortion.

1 Day at a Time

Time sure has a way of getting away from you, doesn't it? Some days/weeks/months can be so much busier than others. Sometimes it may be occasions we're celebrating, preparations we're making, vacations we're taking, and other times, it's the schooling, laundry, cleaning, cooking, sewing, organizing, etc. that can easily do it. We each have our own set of content in our lives that, well.....takes our time!

These last few weeks for me have been no exception to this, and I think have included just about all of the above. I last shared with you that April was Abortion Recovery Awareness Month and had plans to write about some specific repercussions that abortion can cause and that aren't often discovered or learned about until it's too late (after the fact). Well, guess what? I'm still going to share these things, and May is just going to have to be Abortion Recovery Awareness Month, too! In fact, how about we make Abortion Recovery Awareness a year long effort? Sounds good to me!

I'm grateful for a valuable lesson I learned long ago, and that was that sometimes, we've just got to take things 1 day at a time. This is not just true with life in general, but especially true in HEALING from abortion. My own experience with healing was broken down even more than that. It wasn't just a day at a time, or an hour at a time, or a minute at a time, but more like a second at a time. Seriously, I would tell myself that if I was able to get through the second that just passed, I could get through the next one!

I have found that whether in life or in healing, we're just too hard on ourselves sometimes. Unrealistic expectations can bring additional and unnecessary burden. I'm so grateful that God doesn't operate like that. I'm so grateful that He's willing to walk us gently through life and the circumstances and activities that fill it. He's so loving and patient to give us each the measure that we need for every moment. I sure do love Him for that!

As we all go with the flow, speeding up and slowing down as needed, may mercy, patience, and forgiveness with yourself always be part of that equation!

Damage and Recovery

It is Abortion Recovery Awareness Month. And, while there is probably (and should be) a lot of focus right now on emotional recovery from abortion, I'd like to share with you about some of the other physical risks and dangers associated with abortion; many of which can also cause long term repercussions to have to recover and heal from.

More often than not when an abortion takes place, the potential risks and dangers of that abortion are not properly disclosed to a patient. While this isn't obviously always the case, it is far too many times. Such was the case with me. Many women like myself did ask questions, but in response were given very limited information that lacked complete accuracy. Instead, facts and information were twisted, manipulated, and withheld. I can remember being told that I was not aborting a baby, just tissue at that point and that it was completely safe. They were very cautious to be sure that I did not see my baby's image on the screen when they gave me my ultrasound. While this didn't seem right, I honestly didn't know any better at that time. A woman at that point is scared and very distracted by what is about to take place. Something like that becomes easy to overlook. It wasn't actually until I had my children later and also began working in a pregnancy care center that I learned the reality of this deception.

The vulnerability of an abortion minded woman is often taken advantage of. Abortion clinics hone in on their prey (patients) with nothing more than their financial profit gain in mind. This is their entire agenda. They're willing to do whatever it takes to do another abortion. How I wish this weren't the truth, but it is! I have horror story after horror story that came directly from many of the women I've counseled. It's an absolute outrage!

There are obviously a variety of factors that play into a woman's mindset to cause her to abort, and no one reason can really outweigh another when it comes to taking the life of your unborn child. HOWEVER, it would be sheer ignorance to not acknowledge that the lies within these abortion clinics are undoubtedly significant contributors. Many outcomes would/could have been different if women were given the complete truth about what they were doing as well as all of the options available to them.

It's unfortunate that many of the risks associated with abortion are not discovered until it's already too late.

In my next few posts, I will be sharing more about some of these risks, the damage they can cause, and how to recover from such damage.

Better Than A Hallelujah

(Please pause music player on the side)