Until we have walked a mile in another’s shoes, we can never know the challenges they face.

Melissa had experienced unbelievable pain over her lifetime.

She had experienced abuse in her childhood and in her adult life.

She had given birth to three children and had undergone the same number of abortions.

She had been left to raise these three children on her own and was doing everything she could to support them.

She had finally committed to going to school full-time, while also working full-time.

Only last month, Melissa’s brother had been murdered.

Finding out she was pregnant right now, amid mourning for her brother and striving for a better life for herself and her children, did not make sense to her.

This pregnancy seemed at best a distraction and at worst something which could take her off the path of ever having the kind of life she desired for herself and her children.

She found herself performing a Google search for abortion information and clicked on a Heroic Media ad, which connected her with our Pregnancy Help Center partner in Houston.

Melissa walked in, sinking under the weight of every hurt and betrayal and loss she had experienced.

She had chosen abortions before.

Why not again?

What was different?

But, it only takes one conversation to begin to break the chains that bind the human heart, and when Melissa began to speak with her counselor, her heart began to stir.

The counselor’s presence, the support of the center, and the truth the center staff lovingly spoke to Melissa of her value, her dignity and her worth began to move her.

She began to see this child, in all its glorious and unique wonder, as her new start.

This child was not going to take away from Melissa’s life, but was going to add goodness to it.

This was another person to love, to hold, to make Melissa’s life, and the whole world, more beautiful.

Hope had broken through, and the chains of despair began to fall away.

Melissa did something beautiful and different that day, boldly choosing life for her precious child in the face of great difficulty.

May God bless Melissa mightily for her faith and trust!

Psalm 107:14: “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness
and the shadow of deathand burst their bonds apart.”