All things beautiful

I met Stevie about a year and a half ago. Her husband is in the Coast Guard and they just *happened* to move here about a year and a half ago. Since we attend the same church and our kids are about the same ages, we've spent a bit of time with each other- playing games, laughing, crafting together, dreaming about the future, and sharing memories of our past. This woman has such an incredible testimony. Although she shared quite a bit of it before getting baptized, she still had to leave a lot out due to time constraints. Afterword, I asked her to share more with me, and she has given me permission to share with you:

ABORTION. 

It was the only thing I could think of when I found out I was pregnant at just the tender age of 17, out of wedlock, and drowning myself in promiscuity and drugs -- hard drugs! I had come to a point where I would sell myself short for the love of drugs; guns had been drawn to my head because if I hadn't followed through, they would have shot me. 

Although I knew Buddy and even dated him off and on from the time I was 15 years old, I didn't think of him as a long time commitment. I wasn't ready to be done with my party days and drugs. After all, it was the one time I felt like I could be immature. As a child I had to learn to grow up quickly... with drugs in the home, alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse (by my step-father and another family friend), and elementary school mornings where I would have to get my little sister and I ready for school because hangovers and heavy partying keep you in bed. So yeah, I rebelled... boy did I rebel!

I told Buddy I wasn't keeping the baby, that I was definitely going to have an abortion. He was heart broken! So off I went in search of just that, but everywhere I went they said that I needed parental consent since I was under age. I didn't want to tell my parents, because I knew that they would try to talk me out of it. 

I was ashamed, but I didn't want to admit it at the time. 

So I kept searching for someone that would just get this baby out of me so I could "live my life." In the meantime I was punching myself in the stomach, running my belly into sharp wall corners, and continuing to do hard drugs while I was pregnant, until I finally found an abortionist in Seattle that agreed to do the "procedure" without parental consent. By this time, I was already 4 months pregnant and hiding my belly with big sweatshirts. 

About a week before my scheduled appointment, Buddy called me - yet again - this time to ask me to come to church. I hesitantly decided I would go, but only because I felt bad for how heart broken Buddy was. I was still human after all. I was sensitive to his feelings, but definitely more focused on mine and that wasn't going to change, well at least I thought! 

The moment I walked in that church I was regretting my decision of being there. I hated the pastor and the people. I just wanted to leave and get high again... until the moment that completely turned my life upside down!! Someone bravely and obediently stood up from the crowd and said, 

"There's someone here in this room today, they have been tossed around a raging sea like a rag doll all their life. They are exhausted and have given up, falling into the deepest of pits... but I stand here today with Jesus Christ as my witness to tell you that you're making the wrong decision.... CHOOSE LIFE.... CHOOSE LIFE!" 

I honestly think that if someone could have taken a picture of me, I probably would have been white as a ghost, with my mouth dropped to the floor, and hair standing on ends. This was ME!! But as I said earlier, I was rebellious and after a couple days of deep thought I figured, Well that was probably just a coincidence and still planned on getting the abortion. You would have thought this would be a complete wake up call, but it wasn't enough for me. 

Two days before my appointment, I jumped in the shower. As I looked down, I saw that the entire bottom of the tub was covered in blood. I was shocked and afraid, so I got out of the shower. I still didn't want to tell my dad (who I was living with at the time), so I called Buddy instead. I told him "Please come get me, I need to go to the Emergency Room right away." He showed up in record time. My dad was asking all these questions, wondering what was going on. I still couldn't tell him and promised when I got back I would tell him everything; ugh... heartbreaking for a parent, I know! 

On the way there, I broke down to Buddy and told him "If this baby is okay I SWEAR I will give into your God and I will have this baby and everything will be okay."

So, we pulled up to the ER, they rolled me back into ultrasound, and there he was... my baby boy! My heart leaped from my chest as I saw every single body part, his heart was beating regularly, and I instantly FELL IN LOVE!  They couldn't explain the bleeding, they thought maybe it was the placenta that moved, but then said it looked healthy and normal! God knew that's exactly what I needed!

As I returned home, my dad was already sleeping (as it was already early morning hours). I woke up early in the morning to leave with Buddy and my dad was still not up, so I left the ultrasound picture on my bed with a heartfelt letter. My dad said he cried and of course told me that he wished I would have just told him, but this happened exactly this way for a reason....

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This last Sunday my friend Stevie, her husband Buddy, and their son Dallan were baptized together as they rededicated their lives to Jesus. As Stevie stood in the baptismal tank, she read (part of) her testimony aloud::

"For those of you who aren't familiar with my past or my testimony, you may be surprised to know that I was once a meth and cocaine addict, staying up for days on end and having hallucinations only Satan could send, but I stand here today delivered from those chains! 

"There once was a time that I would drown myself in alcohol because I felt it made me someone I wish I was when I was sober, but I stand here today delivered from that darkness; more and more confident every day in who God has made me.

"I once, so foolishly, almost chose abortion, but I stand here today as an advocate for LIFE, especially a life for Him!

"I once stood ill with an aggressive form of cancer, but today I am healed! Without the love, grace, and mercy of God none of these things would have been possible for me. I am PROUD to say that I serve a God like this! He reminds me every day that I am NOT who I once was, but that I am a new creation in Jesus Christ; made new in His image and that I don’t have to carry those burdens upon my back anymore. 

"He makes my burdens light and makes all things beautiful in His time, including the not so pretty parts of our past. So thanks be to my Lord and Savior for making me who I am today, plucking me from the quicksand that I was sinking in and setting my feet on solid ground. My baptism today is a symbol for me that my faith is stronger than my past; that it is no longer a part of who I am and for that I am forever grateful to the Lord."

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Has God ever delivered you from something?
Have you ever shared your story to encourage others?