The Sign

As most of you who are reading this know, we adopted two of our four children. Our decision (or calling, some would say) to adopt came out of (1) the awareness of a need and (2) the realization that we had been blessed with the ability to meet that need. There were kids who needed a home and a family, and God had given us a home and a family. It didn't seem complicated. (Complications came later on, after the kids were actually in our home, but the decision to pursue adoption was never a struggle for us.)

Harvey and I had also been raised in pro-life environments, and it seemed to us that adoption was inherently pro-life and a natural extension of the pro-life movement. If every life in the womb is valuable, isn't every life outside the womb valuable as well? If women choose life rather than abortion, shouldn't those of us who encouraged them to do so be there to help care for those babies once they are born?

I won't go deep into the issues of life and adoption, but I mention them now because of some things that have taken place in my life lately and how they have pushed me to seek new opportunities in those areas.

In late January (the first day of Winter Storm Jonas) our kids had a snow day, so we went as a family to the March for Life on the National Mall. 

The event began with a rally near the Washington Monument and ended with a march to the Supreme Court. It was absolutely frigid up on that hill, but we had the privilege of hearing several wonderful speakers in support of life, including Carly Fiorina. 

As we prepared for the march, the snow began. It fell continuously on us throughout our walk, but our kids were troopers and we made it all the way.

There were lots of signs all around, but one in particular caught my eye. It said something like, "Is this the only pro-life thing you will do all year?" It's easy for me to read or hear something like that and think, "No, actually, my adopting and subsequent parenting of adopted children is a pro-life thing that I will do every day until I die." But after replaying the message of that sign in my mind in the following days, I thought, maybe there is more I can do.

For a long time I've been interested in volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center. Around the same time as the march, one of the elders from our church made me aware of one just a mile or two from our church, right on the road we take to get to church from our house. (We drive past it several times each week.) He asked whether our church women's group might be interested in getting involved somehow with the center. So I made contact with the center and arranged for the director (Gwen) to come to our next women's meeting and speak to the group.

Gwen came on Sunday and told us about the ministry of the pregnancy center. She shared their mission and the services they provide, and she invited us to volunteer as individuals and told us some ways we could support the center as a group.

Yesterday my friend Monica and I took a tour of the center. It's an excellent facility, offering pregnancy tests, pregnancy classes, sonograms, counseling, referrals for insurance and housing, and some material assistance. After seeing the offices in person, I became even more eager to get involved.

I gave Gwen my volunteer application, and she said she will be offering training in March. I'm not sure exactly what my role will be, but I'm excited to find out how God might use me in this ministry. Maybe one day someone else will have the privilege of adopting two beautiful siblings because God used me to encourage their biological mother to let them live.

How have you been involved in supporting life? Volunteering at a pregnancy center? Adopting or fostering or helping those who are? Please leave a comment and let me know!