Walk-for-Life

As many of you know, the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers is close to my heart. When I was a teenager, I became pregnant. I was terrified and didn’t know what to do or where to turn. I went to a CPC for support, and they counseled me through one of the most difficult seasons of my life. I chose to have my child, a son, and place him in an adoptive family. My counselor at the center was incredible. She asked me hard questions, she listened, and over and over again, she pointed me to Jesus.

This year, I’m participating in the Walk for Life to raise money for Living Alternatives, a crisis pregnancy center near where I live. Every day the CPC reaches out to women and children with the love of Christ, offering practical help and hope in the midst of crisis. If you’d like to sponsor me and support Living Alternatives, click here.

This seems like a shameless solicitation, which I suppose it is. Even as I write that word, “shameless,” I’m reminded of the power that shame has held over me. Up until a couple of years ago, this was a big secret from all but a few. And then I chose to publish a part of my story in Focus on the Family, and, well, with a readership of 1,700,000, it pretty much blew my cover, which was a good thing. I got tired of hiding; tired of pretending my second pregnancy was my first, and my third pregnancy was my second. I got tired of hiding his picture every time I invited someone over. The weight of the secret intensified my shame.

And when I think of my birthson, who will be seventeen this year, shame is not the word I want associated with his life. He is a gift from God, a blessing to many, and living proof of God’s redeeming grace.