Today, October 13, 2013 is my 32nd birthday. I’m not the type to keep quiet about birthdays. In the past, I’ve had experiences where I found out that a distant friend or coworker had a birthday weeks prior. When I’ve asked these people why I didn’t know their birthdays had passed, they’d reply something like, “Oh I didn’t bring it up” or “It’s no big deal.” I don’t live in that world. I’m sure it’s an interesting world, but I refuse to live there. In my world, birthdays are a big huge deal.
Yes, it’s one day. I get it. It’s one day that celebrates every single day of your life thus far.
My life was almost snuffed out. My brave mother walked out a Hartford hospital where she had come to abort me. She told the doctor she changed her mind and left with me still safely in her womb. I am a miracle. My whole life is a gift from above. I could have suffered the fate of so many babies in our nation, but I survived. I owe it to the grace of God and the love of my mom.
Over the past 8 years, I’ve worked in the pro-life movement. I currently work at a pregnancy resource center that helps educate and inform women and men to make positive choices for themselves and their families. My job allows me to talk to women in crisis pregnancy situations. I hear the best and the worst. I’ve seen 15- to 17-year-old young ladies tell me they are choosing life because they want to fight for their unborn children.
I’ve picked up the phone and had women casually ask how they could obtain an abortion. Just last week a woman called to schedule an ultrasound to find out how far along she was before she scheduled an abortion. My heart dropped as I listened to her matter-of-fact, casual tone. One would have thought she was scheduling a haircut, not preparing to terminate the life growing inside of her.
I’ve often prayed for abortion-minded women and men to get a glimpse of the future. I’ve asked God to give them a dream or help them to see a vision of who their children could be. It’s easy to abort when you have no picture of who the child you carry could be. What if moms knew that their children would be the next president? What if they 100% without a shadow of a doubt knew that their babies would cure cancer?
A few months ago, I was on the phone with a woman driving to the abortion clinic with her boyfriend. I asked her that question: “What if your baby had the cure for cancer?” Shocked, she said, “I just told my boyfriend minutes ago, what if my baby has the cure for a disease like aids?”
When things are dark, we lose vision. I’ve got pretty bad vision. A rude eye doctor literally asked me if my mom dropped me on my head as a child. Without my glasses or contacts on, I can’t see. If I tried to walk around, drive, or even cook, it’d be a disaster. When I put my glasses on, focus returns, and I can do things well. Many abortion-minded people are walking around without sight. The pain of their circumstances has caused their eyes to darken and their hearts to lose hope.
We must remind them that hope still exists. We must tell them that the light will come. If not us, then who? If the elderly janitor in the hospital with my mom hadn’t told her God would give her the strength to have me, who would have? If she had stayed silent, my life would have been terminated. No birthday cake, best friends, boyfriend, baby brother, or any of the blessings of life that I currently enjoy.
Life is made up of many moments. I love taking pictures, because photographs capture moments like few things can. Here are some of my life moments. A embryo, fetus, or unborn baby is a human in a stage of development. Even now, as an adult woman, I’m still developing. I’m still learning to take risks and growing in love towards myself and others.
I don’t believe there is such a thing as an unwanted child. Even if parents don’t want a child, there’s a whole wide world out there who may just love that person. These few pictures are a small window into the world of a young woman who is very loved and wanted. I’m thankful to be alive. Happy birthday to me!
Summer days with the man who loves me.
Enjoying Atlanta with my girlfriends.
Memorial day with my youth group girls.
Celebrating last year’s Bday with my sisters.
My gorgeous mom and the daughter she loves.
