Answer the phone!

I could tell by the noise in the pregnancy center that is was a busy day. My office is in the back and there are times when I have no idea how busy we are. That was not case this particular morning.

I was on my phone when the center phone rang. I don't typically pick it up but after two rings I knew the front office was too busy to get it. I asked my caller to hold and answered the incoming call before the third ring. The voice on the line sounded desperate, "What do you charge for abortions?"

I explained I would help her in just a second but that I needed to finish with another call. I quickly ended my other call and got back to this woman. I asked a few questions and found out she was indeed desperate. She has two children already. Their fathers do not help in taking care of them. Lonely, she "hooked up" with another guy. She quickly found out he was not a safe person to have around so she kicked him out. Now she is pregnant. This would not work for her at this time. She is also very sick with this pregnancy, she didn't have that with the other two. A while back she was in a bad car accident and is still recovering from that trauma. She lost her car and also lost her job. Her mother only yells at her for getting pregnant again. Yet, her mom tells her if she has an abortion she is a murderer. And there was so much more. I listened for an hour as she poured out all her troubles.

I quietly prayed in my spirit as I continued to listen. "God what does she need?, What do her children need?" She understood that there was a baby inside her. She knew that an abortion did not just stop a pregnancy but that it would end the life of her child. She also wouldn't consider adoption. "That would be too hard. I could never give my baby away to someone." I calmly explained that if she decides to have an abortion she will be "giving her baby away" to the abortionist. She cried. But she didn't hang up.

When I asked about God she said she believed He existed. But that is where her knowledge stopped.

While I listened to her I was reminded of a book I'm studying, "You were born for this" by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson. I remembered a question he likes to ask strangers that he meets in airports or where ever he may meet someone.

So I adapted it to my situation, mustered up the courage and asked, "If I could get God on the phone right now and you could ask for anything, ANYTHING, in the whole world. What would you ask Him for?"

She began to sob. I waited. Then she answered, "I would ask Him to love me." Her answer overwhelmed me. She needed everything. A home. A car. Things for her children. A husband. Family that would support her. So many things went through my mind that she might ask for and all she wanted was for God to love her.

What she didn't know is that He already does love her. In fact, He loves her so much He helped her find our phone number and arranged for me to answer the phone. We had connected at an intimate level, we talked some more and she agreed to come in and meet with me. We haven't met in person yet but last time I spoke with her on the phone she sounded much better. Still sick due to the pregnancy. But calmer some how. She has decided abortion may not be best for her. She doesn't know how she is going make it but she now knows that God loves her.

I have thought about that call often since I picked up the phone that morning. What a blessing. What a reminder to me about God's great love. I have known He loves me for decades now. I must confess that I often find myself taking that fact for granted. It is a precious gift. One that is new each day. While I was still a sinner, Christ died on the cross for me. He died on the cross for you. God became man and died so we may live. Wow! There is no greater love than that.

"When we were utterly helpless. Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God." Romans 5:6-11 NLT

2013 V.R. Gosa

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