"Walk in Her Shoes"

Earlier last week, I participated in a "Walk in Her Shoes" event by Hope Pregnancy Center in Wilmar, MN. This event focused on allowing individuals to come into the center, have a tour, learn about what happens at the center, the services that are provided, and what each role does, as well as hear real-life stories about people who have sought help from pregnancy centers.

(All these stories are based on real people and situations. Their names have been changed for confidentiality.)

Haliey's Story

"Haliey is in her mid-twenties and married with a 4-year-old son. She shares that her husband is struggling with drug addiction, and she is having an affair. She is fearful that she is pregnant with this man's child. She says she will have an abortion if she is."

Vanessa's Story

"Vanessa is eighteen years old and in a new relationship. She has a negative test at our Center. She was a little disappointed but is happy not to be pregnant. She asks for information on birth control and condoms."

Maria's Story

"Maria is twenty-two years old and just graduated from college with a degree in youth ministry. She lives with roommates that she met at church and leads a small bible study out of their home. She was just offered the "perfect" job by a local ministry and starts next week. She has been "talking" to a guy for a few months when she takes a positive home test. The guy says it can't be his and ghosts her. She states that she is strongly against abortion but is undecided about what to do."

What I appreciated most about this event is that it shows that people from all walks of life face situations that are hard, that they are unsure of what to do, that they are afraid, don't have support, have made mistakes, and are trying to navigate through them.

There is no one person who is vunerable.

There is no certain type of woman who is abortion vulnerable. In each of these scenarios, these women are facing uncertain times. And when people are faced with uncertainty, logic can oftentimes go through the window and people are left operating out of survival mode. And when survival mode kicks in their main focus is how to "fix" their problem. They are not operating out of logic, they can't see past what's causing them to panic and all people want to do is relieve that stress, and they will often do that by any means necessary.

It often isn't until that situation has ended that people realize what they've done, that they're able to think through more logically and realize the severity of what they've done hits them.

When we go about judging people for the mistakes they've made, we are building upon the enemy tactics to tear that person down.

As Christians, we're called to be above that. To offer grace, compassion, and truth. Often, we forget the grace and compassion part and jump straight to truth. Truth is important, it's needed, and yet when people are still working through their shame, guilt, regret, etc of what they've done, hitting them with the truth will often cause more damage than good.

Pregnancy Centers, like Hope Pregnancy Center provides a safe place for men and women to talk about their situations. They can openly talk about where they are at, what's happening, and what's happened in the past without fear of judgement. It is each Pregnancy Center's hope that their clients leave knowing that they are cared for and have a safe place to turn towards.

Whatever our belifes and religious standings, we will all face uncertianty and situations we did't imagine for ourselves, and in those moments, I hope you have a safe person or a space to go to. To confide in. That can be a deciding factor between which route you take.

And if you're that safe person for someone, I hope you can approch their situation with grace and compassion.

What kind of respone would you be looking for? Would you want someone to respond out of grace and compassion or out of judgement??

It's not our job to judge people but to help them and lead them to Christ.

What would your response be if someone you knew came up to you and confided about what they did.

"Let he who is without sin be the first to cast the stone" (John 8:7).

Are you without sin??