Pregnant?

I know for many of you reading this, you saw the title and quietly said to yourself...."there's no way." You, my friend, would be right. There is absolutely no way. If you need a little recap or reminder, you can read about it HERE and HERE.

But this isn't about me. No, today I had lunch at the Carolina Pregnancy Center. They invited some pastors from the community out to see their center, to share what they do and most importantly, to feed us (joking). It's a great place. We've done what we can to help them out since we started Discovery and support them whole-heartedly. Obviously with five kids of my own I'm pretty pro-life and think we should do whatever we can to love people who are struggling with these decisions.

I hurt when I heard a couple stories of people who came to the center and decided to go through with having an abortion. I found some comfort in hearing that those same people still felt loved and accepted by the center staff. The center offers more than just pregnancy testing and ultrasounds. They offer classes, clothing, and tons of other resources including post-abortion counseling. And all of it they offer wrapped up in the love of Christ - without fear of condemnation.

I've always struggled with how to handle this issue from the stage. I talked with too many women who would skip church on "Sanctity of Life" Sunday because they felt beat up instead of cared for. Just this past Sunday, I was telling about my experience teaching in DC when partial-birth abortion began to emerge as a topic of debate. I briefly described a newspaper ad that had some diagrams and made sure to say that I wasn't talking about people who've had abortions, and that God loves them anyway. Still, I got a comment about being insensitive. I don't know how to talk about it, be honest, truthful and respectful, without upsetting people. Don't even know if it's possible.

Anyhow, just know that wherever you live, there is most likely a center near you that is all about lifting up life and loving on women and men in difficult circumstances. They could use your help, support and prayers. And every little bit matters.