Embracing God's Gift of Life

And he wants you to bring your pain anything you've ever been to his son Jesus. It's great to build take responsibility for when we have done things that have constipation with us and the father today on Focus on the Family you'll hear how facing an unplanned pregnancy was one of the most difficult frightening circumstances that are just faced and how it changed her life. Welcome to Focus on the Family with your host focus president and author Jim Daly I'm John Fuller, John.

My heart goes out to women and men in the situation that you describe what we want them to know there's hope, there's hope in Christ and that's the key guy has a plan for every life. We believe that her Focus on the Family. He's the creator of life and we also want you to know that if you had an abortion sometime in the past there is forgiveness and healing available through Christ that is the great message today. You're going to hear about that hope and healing as we visit with Laura Lynn Hughes, the author of the book choose Zoe story of unplanned parenthood in the case for life. I love the title Lord didn't know it at the time, but her unplanned teen pregnancy would eventually reveal her life's purpose and I think that should draw everybody in John Juergen want to stay with us to hear this great story lowers a strong pro-life advocate volunteering at the pregnancy clinic and speaking for life in schools and conferences.

So with that, Laura. Welcome to Focus on the Family, thank you so good to have you and we are really lifting up the pro-life effort and I am thankful that the Lord seems to be dropping the scales from the eyes of those who do not see this from a spiritual perspective that life in the womb is life, and I think you agree with that. Yes exactly what happening.

All scales are coming off the scales are coming off. I'm so excited I mentioned the book title and some may be wondering what Zoe years away means tell us what it does well in John 1010 when it says the thief came to steal, kill and destroy. That I came, Jesus came to give us life more abundantly. That would, life is only and I use the term choose Zoe in the book because most people think that's the name of the baby. Is he okay yeah and that it's pronounced LA and its just a totally exciting thing because it's that life we can live here in the culture we can limit now we don't have to wait till we get to heaven to live. So it is true you know it's interesting, that was when I was 15 accepted Christ. That was the Scripture that the person who gave me my first Bible put in there and let me say as a no new convert to Christianity. There's a lot of book of John's in the Bible. First John second John third John in the book the Gospel of John. And that's where that's found that what a powerful Scripture that really does describe the culture today that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.

That's every aspect of your life that your marriage that your children and then the Lord says, but I have come that you might have. So way life more abundantly, and that that just touches me because that was the first Scripture. I memorized way back when I was 15 years old lore you were raised in a Catholic home growing up and you went to Catholic school. Describe your family life at that time. What was it like growing up. Wow, is based in Montana but the mother's estate on jealous already. I love Montana and did a lot of volunteering in my family was very much cell and in the Catholic faith. And they lived good deeds and they also let the love and family. They really were living upon abundant life and we went to Catholic schools we went to mass every morning before school and on Sunday, every night at 6 o'clock we had dinner and then we all any and all 10 of us got on her knees and prayed the rosary. We prayed for people that are sick in hospital.

We pray for those in leadership and the president and we would pray for you. Notice that the culture of life to emanate into people's families, so I really saw Christian values played out, and I'm grateful to the Catholic community, especially on the pro-life issue.

I mean, they have been there from the beginning kind of steering the broader Christian community toward that resolution that life begins in the womb begins at conception.

They have been there. I greatly appreciate that.

However, for you as a girl growing up in a Catholic home at 15 something happened and it changed your life lately. Well I fell in love or mystic sex for love how you want to look at it and I found my little boy might dad had told us don't have sex before marriage. Don't be unequally yoked. I knew those things my parents taught us everything that you should teach children that sex is not talked about much, so I didn't know there was going to be feelings if you like the boy a kiss AA you know I just was totally naïve in that area and so he Aston and we deaden I conceived your just like that 15 at the time and speak to the process of saying it to your head that go and really help the listeners who may not have ever gone through that experience and for those that maybe it was a few years ago and they still have the pain of it, speak to that first time you said to your mom, your dad, I'm pregnant. I actually did not do that.

I did what any responsible 15-year-old with you in my head the pregnancy and I never told anyone, so I let people get and once my mom found out she said I'm in a go pick up dad from that airport tonight and I'm telling you pregnant on the way home and cell.

I called my boyfriend and we went and hid the church parking.

I came home at 330 in the morning said beat between the time my mom and go to bed, from selling. My dad always get up and read the Bible about 435 and so I snacking in between – that my dad across the room in a green velvet chair I just burst into tears and he stood up and he walked over to me and gave me a hug and he told me that he loved me and that mom and him were too old to raise another child and all he asked is that I would pray every single day. What was best for my baby with it was me parent and they would help guide me or placing my child into the loving adoptive arms 12 what a response. How did that make you feel dad was so willing to be there for you just abolish shame out of it because Satan plays tricks on you like oh now, this is shameful you'll never be able to do that as you know, you're not married whets your friends because they lets the church skin is that with the community to say and to have the one person who helped bring me into this world and really valued life: Maki O'Day were all made in God's image, to have my dad apparently with grace like light just meant the world to meet, help me to hold my head high right and help me pack my own children. When you as a woman and I think only a woman can understand this at some level.

But Jesus encountering the woman caught in adultery. Have you identified with that.

I mean, it's a different thing. But absolutely I mean to feel forgiven, absolutely, to feel forgiven and I think of the woman at the well and you know in five marriages end or relationships, at least, and I think of what he did you know he gave them not living water. There was no shame he didn't plaintiff understand maybe when they walked away he would say send him more how to set again describe the feeling of the depth of the she could have with the woman caught in adultery and according to the law should have allowed them and conferred upon them the ability to stone her to death. That was the law, but he said no. As ever, without sin, let him test the first and everybody walked away. That's one of the most powerful messages in Scripture. I think it is and he came to heal and to set us free and how is that can happen if we point fingers and we condemn no more mindful of a woman who is wrapped just filled with guilt and in the church I'm in some of the data is powerful about the number of women who have had abortions who are Christians, even maybe after they made the commitment to Christ.

What word do you have for them is your listening right now I would say that God is not he's madly in love with you and he wants you to bring your pain anything that you've ever been through to his son Jesus because Jesus came to give us life abundant life. He didn't come to me actually score shame so he did not come to point fingers. With that said, it's great to be able to repent. It's great to be able to take responsibility for when we have done things that have caused division with us and the father let's move forward more.

You've volunteered for over a decade and a pregnancy clinic in California. Given your past. What motivated you to get involved directly in clinic work like that. Well, one of my daughters wanted to apply to counsel at health and she was only 16 and felt she was away at a missions trip and Alfred came to church that Sunday when she felt God had spoke to her about volunteering at Alpha and alpha was at my church the same day.

So I grabbed all the literature and I got one for me and one for her and elf is a pregnancy resource Center pro-life clinic health clinics selling lately decided to volunteer and go through the training together and I just love that I always knew that I was supposed to be helping the young, pregnant girls that I didn't felt quite called to it yet. If that makes sense. Sure, I felt like I was raising my own children and it was just perfect timing to be able to go in and help at the clinic and I would think part of the motivation. Obviously many of these girls coming into the clinic there, 15, 16, maybe even younger, but those were the ages of the girls that you obviously were when you first got pregnant was that the motivation can I give them the right answer absolutely. And they were even younger than that. You have lots of stores affect. Tiffany is one that is captured in the book. What was Tiffany story and why did that capture your heart, Tiffany was so smart I for the first time wanted to see what was happening Tiffany's life because I always wonder what can happen in the child's life and Tiffany was just so remarkable. She came to the clinic and looking forward what she came to the clinic for strays in the air. No white Republican man's ever to tell me what to do with my body.

Okay, so should the talking points. It is in college and I said okay, I'm thinking I'm not a man so let's start there in 11 talk about it and what I loved it. She had really gone about her research. She looked at-the wound. She looked at abortion. She looked at the risk and she looked it adoption. She went to the church to my church and my pastors took her through life in the womb. They showed her what the Bible says about the life and to pursue some fetal development and so the church and the clinic. We join hands with her story and it's a powerful outcome. So she has her little girl and she's running the celebrate recovery at her church and her and her boyfriend are a coparent and she's in college and so she's beat all the statistics and all the odds and I'm just really excited to see it so fun to see her and her little girl up to Alaska. When asked this question, looking at Tiffany known how many years ago did she have this baby. Like okay so you have that much and she has that much history. Now with this child should have any regrets you talk to her absolutely no regrets is that wonderful, that is the power of that testimony. And that's the testimony you're going to find over and over and over again that a woman who did decide for life either through adoption or to raise that baby. Sometimes in difficult circumstances that the choice to allow the baby to be born into live and to honor God in that way is the guiltless approach is it's the way to go because God's in control right. There's no regrets, no regrets, and you can look it up baby and think of the unknown… Can I mean this is not to be able to get educated or what what's can happen here that you embracing love yes and what I love about it is it speaks volumes about the pro-life community being not just for the baby and saving the baby's life, but for the mother.

Absolutely it was her decision to make absolutely and they find help in the church so often told you not to find help clear, but through the pregnancy resource centers in the churches when the functioning well certified lots of help. Absolutely.

And if you're feeling like I'd I'd like to try to talk to somebody but I don't know church. I don't know, pregnancy center, call us please with caring counselors here. They will listen to you talk things through the pray with you are number here at Focus on the Family is 800 K in the word family 800-232-6459 online you can find a lot of great help resources including of the book by our guest Laura Lynn Hughes called choose Zoe is@focusonthefamily.com/broadcast more. Let me ask you, we touched on it.

These younger girls are coming to the clinic.

What are their ages and how do they inspire you in terms of their decision-making.

Well, we had 312-year-olds in my town in one month. Okay let me just pick my job 312-year-olds 12-year-old girls precious little girls who were coming, probably by themselves or with some other person other than their parents by themselves into the clinic man-made edge and the fear that they have though to have the courage to be able to do that is a 12-year-old.

That's amazing that very young, very naïve, that very immature, but there also very open to the truth.

And when they come in. You might only have a little bit of time with them because once you realize that there 12 years old and were mandated to report right so then you're talking police or CPS or both, and you may not get to see that little girl again. So for me I want to encourage her, let her know how important she is. Let her know that the life inside of her and I can tell of the development.

At the time because I might not be able to see her again right now and if she would like I can pray with her and this could be the last time she hears pray for your baby yes no. Be mindful of your baby and its future because when you take the focus off of your situation. When the fear goes away and you're able to focus on the love for your child, then you can make a decision that you can both live with Laura.

This may be a really tough question, but I think I need to ask so many people. I think both in the church outside the church, possibly would say in that situation. Is it ever the right thing to do to what the 12-year-old have the abortion was physically and she's not really ready then they will do a cesarean section and that that can happen anyway. In today's world with pregnancy works never a guarantee that will be able to have a natural delivery and the girls that I know that are that young.

Even the ones that was incest or even the girls a little older, even that were rate I'll tell you this, the most common thing that I have heard is that they wanted to sometimes take their life or because it's very common that the girls six times more when their teenager will commit suicide after having an abortion within six months after the abortion and so it's very important to be able to support them in their grief and in their trauma and those girls and the girls who are raped able tell you I wanted to take my life. My baby saved my life for what a statement.

It's powerful, I've heard every time that is coming breathtaking child of that age has to make the kind of dramatic decision and I'm sure in many cases without a lot of support around them. That's what the work of the clinics.

I'm so proud of these pregnancy resource clinics were there with volunteers like you Laura were willing to talk to these girls and give them a biblical godly perspective on what's happening in their life and it's unfortunate so unfortunate that they're having to face the kind of decision at such an early stage in life but God's there. I love the Scripture. He's close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit. Absolutely Laura let me save the best for last year because as you are writing this book choose Zoe a stunning revelation came to you about your own daughter. What happened while I was writing and how I knew I was can include abortion and abortion recovery because we do have that ministry in our church and so I wanted people to not just look at this as a life we only care about the babies because anyone in the pro-life community knows that we care about discipling the young man and the young woman that with the crisis pregnancy and we care about those who have been lied to and have chosen abortion and the pro-life ministry is a caring ministry and it is all things and I didn't know who I was going to use yet in the story and I got an email and I read the email is for my daughter and she's mentioning that in high school that she had a secret abortion is the first time you heard and I push delete I push delete on that computer and and I went upstairs and I like erased it from my mind.

And then I thought I caution the night after night I was in a fetal position, and my chest was heavy and I was like that only last my grandma, my mom, but it was that type of grieving, and I blessed a grandchild and here I fight for the young girls and my own daughter. The laws didn't protect her.

They took my parental rights away and she was able to go in to Planned Parenthood and have an abortion. And so she had to go through that and she had to lose a child and go through a medical procedure on her own. My kids never went anywhere by herself. I can't.

I'm a mom, I would've never chose that for her.

I also would've never wanted her to go through something like that completely alone and so she had so much recovery already happening in her life and she said it's a part of our fabric right part of our pro-life store in the great no part of the stories that she became the director of the clinic right.

That's all exciting. Meanwhile yet to be so proud of her next email.

Fast forward a few years my job and and outcomes some printing. She had sent a form to my job and it was aptly action application for Alpha and so it comes into my my printer and I read it and like no way daughter volunteered our clinic even in this Sandy's my mother was with alpha pregnancy clinic that spelled out the crisis at the time of Montana and my sister Debbie all sell my sister Barb did that phone calls my daughter jazzy and so it's really exciting to see that it's a family family affair that something Laura behind every unplanned pregnancy. Obviously there's a young man or a man involved. We need to acknowledge that sometimes a boyfriend or husband that can bring a lot of pressure on that young lady or that the girl to get the abortion threatening to leave, the more divorce them if they're married, water summary, your experiences dealing with that kind of pressure for the woman yes that of the man is still the number one course and pressure for abortion and the second is there another which is very sad and it's growing because as so many post-abortive moms that are now offering it to their own children, and that with the young man standing important that many church and fathers teach and what it's like to be a man and to protect and to provide for their child because there's like no open borders or sexuality and then when it comes to pregnancy is on the women's plate right there are times to when the limit makes a decision, and the boy really wants the child and has no choice whatsoever.

But when you look at what a woman's going through and back when I had my daughter, my boyfriend was not saying abort that it was also really terrible relationship.

There 82 young having sex and so forth to 16 to speak to with young girls is not hurt and heartache and their value and how can we mend that because that drowns out the voice of a boy saying you're not important. The baby is not important.

So the key is to always build up the young lady and once in a while the men come in. You know the young teenage guy even with the girl and that's really exciting and we've got materials that they can watch they can see what's going on in the womb. They can come in and see the ultrasound herself and not so powerful and those are usually a positive outcome. As far as giving birth to the child, Laura, let me at the end here. We need to provide the kind of practical help someone today moving here from there teenage girl you know mom that I'm pregnant. What are some things that can do word is a turn for help, especially if they've never been through this before.

What can they do this biblically informed in word of the go well as you know, Focus on the Family has all kinds of literature that they can look at and the most important thing is just to realize that the daughter really needs love, she needs care. There's so many resources out there.

There's a pregnancy center almost in every town now and so you can just Google your area and where pro-life pregnancy center would be so if you don't know what to do, get them into someone where they can physically see someone that can counsel them and help them through this and navigate through it because you get all the adoption options you'll be able to see what abortion does and actually the risk of abortion that you will have all the parenting and medical needs not be able to get all the resources in town that you may need. And it's just a phenomenal place to calm so good, you're not alone right. You just need to make people aware that you need help and that's so difficult but I would encourage you if you're in that spot. Do it start with a call her to Focus on the Family a lower one thing they were so proud of. I think for over 15 years now. We've done something called option ultrasound yet it is a great program. We work with the hundreds of clinics around the United States.

Pregnancy resource clinics.

Robin Chambers is the one who heads that up and I will say thank you to the donors who have made that possible is one of the easiest things to raise money for when we talk to our donor community to say, will you help save the baby's life. I'm so proud of the Christian community say yes and we have got that down to $60. You know, you think of an abortion were cost about $600 to take the baby is like night and it cost only $60 to save the baby's life and so I've got to beg and plead and just say will you help us do that.

Would you give us $60 so we can in turn take that resource that you give us and turn it toward option ultrasound and that helps us put the ultrasound machine and a clinic to train a clinic to operate the machines etc. so that when that 15-year-old girl like Laura was walking to the clinic can actually see the image of their baby. The heartbeat, and perhaps depend upon development the fingers and toes. The baby sucking its foam right in the womb and money say boldly.

This is life. It is a live human being. All it needs it's time to grow a little bigger than for those in the abortion community. I would hope that you would think about that. Think about what you're doing there so many better ways to deal with this than ending the life of the child, and I think together we can do that but we invite you to join us with our option ultrasound program, your monthly gift or even a one-time gift will make a big difference as we continue to help moms decide to keep their babies option ultrasound provides 3D ultrasound equipment and training for pregnancy centers across the country and more than half of abortion minded women decide to keep their baby after seeing that little boy or girl's image on the screen may hear the heartbeat.

So please consider a monthly gift. If you can, or if not a one-time gift to save a baby's life.

When you donate today will say thank you for joining the support team and making life possible by sending a copy of the great book by Laura Lynn Hughes choose Zoe again. Our number 800 K and the word family get in touch sure to ask about other resources that we might be able to make available to you and if you need to talk with someone just asked to be connected to a counseling once more. The number 800 K in word family online words Focus on the Family.com/broadcast on behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team. Thanks much for joining us today for Focus on the Family I'm John Fuller inviting you back. As we once more help you and your family thrives in Christ you ever wonder what it was like to meet Jesus face-to-face the teachings, the long-awaited Messiah in the flash all new novel by Focus on the Family called and chosen. I have called you by name. Based on the hit streaming series.

Immerse yourself in first century Galilee experience the Savior to the eyes of his followers want to dive deeper into Scripture with everything Stern learn more about the chosen novel focusonthefamily.com last chosen focusonthefamily.com last chosen