Hi, I was blinded by
pride in my life and that pride
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led me to take a plan B
after the fact contraceptive.
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I'd like to share with you
how God restored and redeemed
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my life though on
"Life After Choice."
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I'm Abby and thank
you so much for joining us
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on Life After Choice.
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I was 18, I had just finished
my first year of college,
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I was joining the
military, I had my own plans.
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I didn't care about anything
that God had planned for me
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because I was pretty indignant
to the idea that He had some
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grand plan for my life. I
felt like He was very distant
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and didn't really
care bout what I was doing.
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Well thankfully even
though I was blinded by my pride
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and blind to the chaos
that was going on in my life
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realistically, the
gentleman that I started dating
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my now husband. He was much
more humble and looked at life
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much more realistically. He
was in the process of trying to
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build his relationship with
God, he was looking for a church
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to help him foster
that relationship...
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So when we started dating,
it was really difficult for
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me to think about how
he was trying to build this
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relationship with God when
I hadn't really cared about
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one at all. Regardless
from our different perceptions
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we really just fell
in love with each other.
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Even though he was in church and
trying to do the right thing,
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we really got wrapped
up in this worldly sense of
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falling in love...Got busy
of thinking what we wanted,
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my plans and his plans.
Well our foolish plans met the
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consequences and the reality
of our choice when we found
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out that we could be pregnant.
So being terrified of the idea
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of becoming a mom, I talked
to him about my fears and I took
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Plan B Contraceptive pill.
Now this is a pill that I took
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after the fact that I thought
the pregnancy might have been
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successful. Well, I
thought I had it under control,
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I had my plans, I wasn't
concerned about what God's were
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and this was my way of taking
care of things to make sure
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that my life could go just
the way that I had planned it.
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Well, I praise God
that He had a different plan
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because we ended up
still being pregnant,
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and the pregnancy was very
successful and about two weeks
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later we found out that
we were going to be parents
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in nine months. It totally
floored me, I was terrified,
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the idea of just becoming this
mom, being in charge of another
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person's life,
it was terrifying.
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But my husband on the other
hand, we had only been dating
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for three months at that
time, he was really excited,
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he wanted to become a dad
and he just really really wanted
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to take this opportunity and
even though it wasn't the best
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start to things, he really
wanted to move forward with it
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and try to build
a family with us.
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So even though it was a
little bit chaotic there at the
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beginning, we tried
to move forward in doing
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the right thing. We had
no idea what we were doing.
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I still wasn't going to
commit my life to the Lord,
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I was more concerned about how
I was going to take care of this
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and even though I was on
this team with my husband,
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we had a plan, but it was
our plan, it wasn't God's plan.
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So our next step, we
thought well, if we are going to
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build this family together
and if we are going to become
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parents, what is
it going to look like?
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Ashamed of becoming
pregnant, not married,
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just three months into
a relationship, we stopped
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going to church together.
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We really isolated ourselves
from any kind of positive
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influence, we did tell out
families but the initial shock
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was really more damaging than
it was helpful to us for them.
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So in that chaos and in the
midst of all that craziness,
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we just kind of pushed ourselves
away from everybody else
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and we were very very alone.
But I praise God that He had
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a plan the whole time
and His timing was perfect.
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Cause we had made a friend
over at our church that really
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we'd only been going
to for a couple of months
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and this friend was so concerned
about us that we hadn't
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been coming back to church,
we were ignoring his calls
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repetitively that one evening
my husband got home from work,
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he just showed up at
the door and he said hey,
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what's going on, why
aren't you guys here?
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You guys are this really
sweet couple young couple
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you should really be in
church, we want you there.
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So my husband he explained
everything to him and how we
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were so ashamed and
embarrassed and we didn't know
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what we were going to do,
we wanted to stay committed
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to each other but we didn't
really know how to move forward
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to build a true family.
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So we tried to do our
best and he reminded us of that
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wonderful verse in Luke
that tells us that Jesus came
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not to save the righteous
but help the broken and to help
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those that are lost.
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So we moved forward
and we went back to church,
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we were met with so much
love and so much support.
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Those next few months as I
became more and more pregnant
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and the reality of this
life growing inside of me became
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more and more real, we decided
that we really needed to get
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serious about our
relationship with God,
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our relationship with
each other so we were baptized
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when I was five months pregnant
and we got baptized together
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and we committed
our lives to the Lord.
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Didn't really know
what that would look like,
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didn't really know what it
meant but we really just wanted
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to set this foundation for our
family because we knew that we
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couldn't do it
without God's help.
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Just a few months after
that, we moved forward with
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marriage plans despite
everyone's advice not to
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because we were rushing into
things and it was scary and fast
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and they didn't want us
to get married just because
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we were pregnant but we really
felt like it was the right thing
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to do and that we were
truly committed to each other
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no matter what. So we
got married and we built this
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foundation for our
little baby who was born
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and when she was born, it
was just every day we had to
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completely give ourselves to
Christ and surrender our lives
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to Him in every way because
we had to rely on Him that way.
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When she was so
tiny, it was incredible.
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When you become it's so
exciting and I kind of just lost
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sight of the rough
beginning because things were so
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beautiful, God
was truly blessing us.
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He really held true to His
promise that He will provide
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for all of our needs and
that He knows the desires of our
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hearts. He gave us a home to
live in, He gave us a miraculous
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way for me to stay in school.
He gave my husband a good job
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and He supplied for absolutely
all of our needs, emotional,
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physical and monetary. Lost in
this wonderfulness of becoming
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a family and trying to
live our lives for the Lord
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we just really took
the time to grow together.
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So by the time my
daughter turned nine months old,
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I had really been praying
about ways that I could serve
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in the church and the
Holy Spirit impressed upon me
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that I needed to focus on a
ministry that would talk about
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abortion and the value of life,
helping people find alternatives
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because I really identified
with the fear that people feel
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when you feel like everything
in your life is crumbling
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and you just want to fix it.
You just want to move forward
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with your plans. I really
really identified with that.
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My husband completely
supported me and he said well
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why don't you ask
our pastor about it?
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We'd just gotten a new
pastor and we thought well let's
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really try to get involved
and why don't you just ask him?
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So I turned in a connection
card, just a little note
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at the end of service telling
our pastor what I wanted to do..
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I had no idea what God was
doing, where He was leading it.
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Well the next steps, we were
looking into what the church
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had to offer and what our
local community had to offer
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and several denominations
within our city outside of the
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SDA church, they had programs
built for this and they had
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Crisis Pregnancy
Centers for people.
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So I really wanted to
glean from these people's ideas
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and my pride kind of crept
in again and I looked at it
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like, well I just want to
take these people's ideas and
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I want to build something
for the Adventist Church.
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That was kind of my mentality
there at the beginning.
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Well one program that we
found was the Rachel's Vineyard
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Program and thankfully my pastor
was in a position that he really
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wanted to go with
me to this retreat.
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It was a weekend
retreat where we focused with a
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post abortive men and women
on the healing that God has
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to offer. The forgiveness
that is truly there that Satan
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likes to try to pull from
our minds and make us think that
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we're not good enough or that
we could possibly do something
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that could not earn
Christ's forgiveness.
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This retreat focused
on the power of the cross
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and what Jesus did for us there
and the hope and the healing
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that can come from
accepting His gift to us.
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At this retreat, one of
the scripture stories that we
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focused on was the story of
the woman caught in adultery
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and when I was looking
over the notes before we
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even went to the
retreat, I thought to myself,
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okay, I really need to
focus on something for myself
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for healing on this retreat
because we are going to be
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surrounded by these people
who had suffered great loss
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in their life and I read
it to my husband and told him,
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we're going to be going
over all of these Bible Stories
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and I really want to
focus on something I can
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help me, something that I
can work on while I'm here.
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Him being the more realistic
one, he looked at me completely
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honestly and said, well,
you tried to get rid of her,
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speaking about our
daughter... We did try that...
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We could have had the abortion
in the form of that Plan B pill,
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we did reject life and
that floored me, it was just
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this reality that
everything wasn't perfect,
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I still had this pain
that I was dealing with
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that I wanted to cover up
with a Band-Aid and race past it
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pretend like, oh no,
that's all good, that's all left
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in the past...But it was still
there and still had to deal with
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that. So that's what I
focused on on the retreat.
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When we got to the story,
that story of the woman caught
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in adultery and
everyone was surrounding her
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everyone was looking
at her and judging her
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and Jesus was there
writing their sins in the dust.
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He said where are your accusers?
after they had all left
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and He said I don't condemn
you either, neither do I condemn
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you. They're not here to
condemn you, neither will I.
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That really struck a chord
in my heart and made me realize
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the true character of God
and and who He really is to us
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and how He views us as His
children, that He absolutely
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loves us. I was just so
thankful for that retreat and
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for the new view of
God it had given me.
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This relationship that I
could build upon, this reality
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of who God was and how much
His love really impacted me,
00:11:16.47\00:11:21.74
I was so thankful.
Coming back from that retreat,
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my life was completely changed,
I came back a new person.
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My husband was so excited
to see me have this new energy
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and the next level
of fire for the Lord.
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I was absolutely in love and
head over heels for what He had
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done for me. So moving
forward when I thought about
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well what's next? I have
this new life, this redemption
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in my life, what am I
supposed to do with it?
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Well the Lord made it really
obvious, I needed to focus
00:11:52.91\00:11:56.38
on the value of human life
because when I looked around me,
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it creeps into every
aspect, it's not just abortion
00:11:59.45\00:12:03.69
it's not just contraceptives,
it's just about how we view
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human life. Do we view
each other the way God views us?
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When we start looking
at each other like that,
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then we can see how
precious this human life is,
00:12:15.90\00:12:19.03
and all of these children
and all of the human beings
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that are on this planet, how
precious they are to the Lord.
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Looking at life a little
bit differently in that way,
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viewing people as true
precious children of God.
00:12:30.95\00:12:33.68
I started looking around
wondering who else was in pain,
00:12:33.72\00:12:36.99
who else was suffering with
this weight on their shoulders
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that they felt like
they could never be forgiven,
00:12:40.96\00:12:43.56
that they had done the
unthinkable, that they were
00:12:43.59\00:12:46.96
just keep punishing themselves
over and over and over again
00:12:47.00\00:12:50.03
by walking back
through those thoughts.
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They didn't have to look
far. Just within our own church
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there are several
people who needed that healing.
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God provided avenues that
we could start our own ministry
00:12:57.27\00:13:01.24
within that church and it has
just grown and grown and grown.
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It has been an incredible
journey to see what God has done
00:13:04.68\00:13:08.78
and I am just so thankful that
we could have the opportunity
00:13:08.82\00:13:13.29
to help people. I think some-
times we get lost in the idea
00:13:13.32\00:13:17.69
of helping other people and
forget that we're broken people
00:13:17.73\00:13:20.70
too and we're as individuals
we have broken hearts
00:13:20.73\00:13:24.73
and we have to address
that before we can help others.
00:13:24.77\00:13:28.27
We have to put that
pride aside and let God's plan
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come in. We really
have to put Him first.
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My overall take away when I
reflect on what God has done
00:13:34.58\00:13:39.78
in my life and how He has
been there for me the whole time
00:13:39.81\00:13:43.82
pursued me relentlessly.
I really just look around me
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and see how He has
provided for all of my needs,
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how He's always been there
for me, how even before I was
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pregnant, He was there for
me too. I was just to prideful
00:13:58.77\00:14:02.14
and to blind to see it.
00:14:02.17\00:14:03.51
The closer that I
got to becoming a mom,
00:14:03.54\00:14:07.94
the more real it
got and every day since
00:14:07.98\00:14:10.45
I just get a little bit closer
to Him and I am so thankful
00:14:10.48\00:14:13.15
for it. I praise the Lord
for what He has done in my life
00:14:13.18\00:14:16.58
and I know that He can
do the same work in yours.
00:14:16.62\00:14:18.75
So implore you to submit
your self to God to put His plan
00:14:18.79\00:14:22.62
first because His is a
lot better than anything
00:14:22.66\00:14:25.29
that you could come up with.
00:14:25.33\00:14:26.66