Another Encounter with Life at Clinic

wed at clinic was another special day. i can't say that any day here is not special, actually. God always seems to surprise me with something or someone. one of my first patients for the day was a young 19 year old girl who wanted an abortion. is this sounding familiar to you too? we are getting these girls in waves. mindy, the physician assistant, says they hardly ever have them this often. she said it is an unusually high season for these girls to be coming in like this. so as you know from my last blogs, i have been in the room and had dr. tom explain the statistics of potential harm to the mom that the abortions can cause and that we don't do them in this clinic. i guess that's another weird thing to us that they keep coming since everyone knows that this clinic doesn't do them. so i can only conclude the obvious assumption that they are convicted inside and are coming to seek counsel from us before they do it. i know that means they are doubting it. why else would they come to our clinic, if we clearly do not do them? the only answer i can give is that God is guiding their hearts to come and give these babies a last fighting chance for life.

anyway, pan was my translator and she came and got me to tell me it was another abortion case. my heart just sank again. hers did to, in her broken english she told me she does not like these cases. i agree! so i found dr. tom and asked him if i could share with the patient alone this time since i was pretty sure i knew what he would say. i reviewed the statistics with him that he usually shares and he said, i got it. he agreed it would be really good for me to handle it alone, since i would most likely get 13 and 14 year old girls in pediatrics who want abortions. i need to know how to counsel them.

so pan and i went in and i made a point to introduce myself and let her feel comfortable with me. she had to feel at ease with me before i could help her. i explained the statistics you've heard me write about before. these statistics which harm the mother are actually quite alarming to the patients. her eyebrows perked up several times. her reason for wanting it was that she was 19 years old and wanted to finish school. all i could think about was which is more important a child's life or grades? i asked her that and she nodded her head in agreement. it hit her. i liked that she was stopping to think about it. most of the time, the girls just stubbornly keep saying they still want an abortion. this time was different. i slowly got to her level and tried to really have her picture the situation. we counseled her for over an hour! needless to say, i didn't see that many patients that day. thankfully, we have several people able to see patients, so it didn't affect the flow. it afforded me this opportunity that God had so obviously provided. i explained that her baby already had a brain and heart and that the baby was formed. it only needed more time to grow inside her. i asked her if she wanted to see this miracle inside of her on an ultrasound. she actually wanted to! you don't understand, most of them who are set on an abortion can't stand the guilt and do not want to see the baby on an ultrasound. this woman did! she was changing her mind!!!! she was having second thoughts! it was just me, pan, the patient and her unborn child in the room. praise God. before the end of the visit, she said she was having second thoughts, but she didn't come right out and say she wasn't going to have it. you know, i'll take second thoughts, b/c that will stay with her on her way home. i have a hopeful feeling for her. the visit was an hour long so i can't explain to you right now what all was said, but it was so worth the time and visit for even just one.

so at lunch, i said to jerry, "you know you guys should expand the ministry to include supporting girls while they are pregnant and after they give birth if the babies need placement since there are so many girls coming to this clinic wanting abortions." jerry smiled and said you just never know what God will do here. there is a tremendous need out there. so we can definitely be praying for that.