Participants:
Series Code: LAC
Program Code: LAC180012A
|
00:01 My mother was pregnant.
00:03 She was living with an abusive husband, 00:05 and she was determined to have an abortion. 00:08 Suddenly, 00:09 the one thing she thought would buy her freedom 00:12 was stripped away from her. 00:14 How did she manage to survive? 00:16 Join us today on Life After Choice. 00:34 Hi, my name is Antionette Duck. 00:37 Welcome to Life After Choice. 00:40 When my mother first believe that she was pregnant, 00:43 she was living in an incredibly abusive marriage. 00:47 Her husband, my biological father 00:49 was addicted to drugs and alcohol, 00:52 and life could be extremely scary. 00:57 She decided she was going to have an abortion. 01:01 At that time, it was 1981, 01:03 and she was originally from California, 01:05 and abortions were free at that time in California. 01:10 So what she decided to do was 01:11 she was going to secretly put money aside. 01:16 And when she finally thought that she had enough money, 01:20 she was going to take that money. 01:22 She was going to go back to California, 01:24 have her abortion and be done with this relationship. 01:28 She began secretly giving money to a friend of hers 01:31 who she thought was trustworthy and dependable. 01:36 And when she finally thought that she had enough money, 01:40 she goes to this friend and says, 01:42 "I've got to get out of here. 01:43 It's time for me to go. 01:45 I need my money." 01:46 The friend turned to her and said, "What money? 01:50 I spent all of it." 01:54 Think of that, she was 20 something, 01:58 she was in an abusive relationship. 02:02 And she was entirely on her own. 02:05 There was nowhere that she could turn. 02:08 There was no one who she could turn to. 02:12 She had no way home, and she had no way out. 02:17 She had been experiencing morning sickness. 02:19 And so it was actually her husband 02:23 who knew that she was experiencing 02:25 this morning sickness. 02:26 He found an ad in the paper. 02:29 And the ad said, "Hey, I'm alive, 02:32 voice of the preborn, Columbus, Georgia." 02:34 Because she was in Georgia at that time. 02:37 And it was an advertisement for a crisis pregnancy center. 02:41 There was a church and they had started 02:43 a crisis pregnancy center out of their actual church. 02:49 So she calls, she makes an appointment. 02:52 And she goes in to see if she can get help 02:57 in some way. 02:59 When she goes in, they give her pregnancy tests, 03:02 they confirm that she is in fact pregnant. 03:03 And she said, "Will you please help me 03:06 have an abortion?" 03:07 And they said, "No, we won't help you 03:10 have an abortion. 03:11 But would you be willing to come back 03:13 for some counseling?" 03:15 She didn't know what else to do. 03:17 And so she agreed. 03:19 She said, "Okay, I will come back 03:21 for some counseling." 03:23 When she went in for her counseling session, 03:27 the counselor, the person who was seeking 03:30 to give her advice was speaking. 03:33 And she was halfway paying attention 03:35 to what was being said. 03:36 There was a magazine that was there in the office, 03:41 and it was a Life magazine. 03:44 Now, back in 1965, 03:46 Life magazine had done a photo spread of the unborn. 03:51 It showed the unborn in utero and it showed all of these 03:54 different stages of development. 03:56 It showed fingers, and toes, and arms, and legs, 03:59 all of this development 04:01 throughout the gestational period. 04:02 And as she sat there, 04:04 looking through the photos flipping page after page, 04:09 she was absolutely amazed. 04:11 When this issue came out in 1965, 04:14 it was the first time that the world had ever seen 04:17 the baby in utero. 04:18 And she herself, even though it was 1981, 04:21 she had never seen the child in utero. 04:23 She had literally been taught that the baby 04:25 was just a massive protoplasm. 04:28 So as she was looking at these pictures, 04:31 she was completely blown away. 04:34 And the Holy Spirit just fell on her truly, 04:39 truly moved her. 04:42 And she knew, 04:43 as she was looking at those pictures 04:46 that she saw arms and legs, that she saw hands and feet, 04:50 as she saw a face. 04:53 She knew, "Whatever happens, 04:57 I'm going to go through it with my baby." 05:03 Well, the baby that she saved was me. 05:07 And so here I sit over 35 years later, 05:12 because my mother chose life. 05:19 When I share this story, 05:20 what's important to understand 05:25 is that she chose life. 05:29 She loved me. 05:31 There was a purpose and a plan for me, 05:33 she knew it, and a purpose and a plan for her. 05:37 But our circumstances did not change. 05:44 Our household was still a scary place. 05:49 My father was very broken. 05:52 He was very wounded. 05:54 And he had suffered tremendous abuse 05:57 at the hands of people who should have loved him. 06:01 And because he had not found freedom, forgiveness, 06:06 healing at the cross, 06:08 through him the cycle continued. 06:13 So our circumstances did not change. 06:17 But you know what? 06:19 Neither did the faithfulness of our church. 06:23 When my mother needed a baby shower, 06:27 the church was there. 06:29 When my mother needed a job, 06:32 the church was there. 06:35 When we needed a safe place in the middle of the night, 06:41 the church was there. 06:44 They were with her. 06:46 They were with her in the midst of that crisis pregnancy. 06:51 And they were with her in the trenches of life. 06:57 It was absolutely incredible. 07:02 This is what we have the opportunity to do 07:05 as individuals. 07:07 This is what we have the opportunity 07:10 to do as a church. 07:14 These people who were willing to intercede for the value 07:18 of human life, 07:19 they didn't foresee what my life would be. 07:23 They didn't foresee who or what I would become. 07:26 They didn't foresee what my mother would be 07:28 or what she would become. 07:30 They didn't foresee what my father would be 07:31 or what he would become. 07:33 They were standing on truth, 07:36 and they refused to be silent. 07:40 For our sakes, 07:42 they were willing to have a difficult conversation. 07:45 For our sakes, 07:47 they were willing to go to uncomfortable places. 07:51 They were willing to intercede, 07:53 to intervene in the life of a woman in Christ and say, 07:57 "There is a better way. 07:59 Please, choose life and praise the Lord." 08:04 She did. 08:07 That is our story. 08:10 But you know, there is story after story, 08:13 woman after woman, man after man, 08:17 who they haven't had that kind of intervention 08:21 because people have decided to remain silent. 08:25 They decided this is too much for us to handle. 08:29 It's too scary a conversation. 08:31 It's too uncomfortable. 08:33 And those people are living broken, 08:36 devastated completely under the condemnation, 08:40 accusation and shame of their enemy, 08:43 the enemy of their souls. 08:44 They haven't found freedom and forgiveness at the cross. 08:49 Can you imagine the difference that would have been made 08:54 in their lives? 08:56 There are approximately a million abortions 08:59 that take place in America every year. 09:02 Can you imagine the difference 09:06 if people were willing to say, 09:09 I love you. 09:10 If people, our churches were willing to say, 09:14 I will walk alongside you. 09:17 And no matter what, 09:19 I'm not going to stop loving you. 09:21 I'm not going to abandon you. 09:23 I'm not going to leave you. 09:25 We will walk alongside you in the difficulties of life, 09:29 not because we're celebrating sin, 09:32 but because we know who our God is. 09:35 We know the value that He's placed 09:38 in every single human being, 09:40 and we refuse to be silent. 09:43 Think of the difference that would be made, 09:48 imagine! 09:52 When I was 23 years old, 09:56 I was working with a particular ministry 10:00 that deals with talking about abortion 10:03 and the value of the human being. 10:06 And I was on a college campus and I was speaking 10:09 to another young woman, who was 23. 10:12 And while we were speaking, 10:14 she shared her story. 10:16 She had chosen to have an abortion. 10:19 And she had experienced a tremendous amount 10:23 of family pressure. 10:24 Her grandmother, in fact, drove her to the clinic. 10:28 It really was a non-negotiable that she go through with this 10:33 and have the abortion. 10:35 And as she shared her story, 10:37 my heart was just filled with compassion, 10:41 with empathy for this young woman. 10:43 We were the same age. 10:46 And I shared with her my story, 10:49 how my mother had chosen life, 10:51 how she had tried to give money to a friend, 10:54 the friend had spent all the money 10:55 and the Lord intervened and she chose life. 11:00 And when I shared that story with her, 11:01 the young woman, 11:03 she, her eyes filled with tears. 11:07 And she looked down and she said, 11:09 "That's wonderful. 11:11 That's really wonderful 11:12 that your mom made that decision." 11:17 And I reached across to her, 11:20 and I took hold of her hand. 11:23 And I said, "Yes! 11:24 It is wonderful that my mother made that decision." 11:29 Because you know what? 11:31 I am here to tell you today 11:35 that you are forgiven. 11:39 Think of that. 11:41 There I was someone who had been rescued 11:45 from the very thing that she had done 11:47 to her own child. 11:49 There I was rescued from the very thing 11:53 that threatened to burden her with a condemnation 11:59 that she would not be able to escape on her own. 12:03 She was a new Christian. 12:05 And she was desperate to believe 12:06 that the grace of the Lord really was sufficient for her. 12:11 And I was able to speak life into this woman, 12:17 into her existence, into her experience. 12:20 Think of that. 12:22 The Lord preserved me, 12:23 had preserved me over 23 years ago, 12:26 and brought me to that place, to that woman, to that story. 12:30 And He allowed me to speak life into the death 12:35 that had taken place. 12:37 When I said, "You are forgiven, 12:41 the Lord has forgiven you. 12:43 Walk in the freedom that is yours." 12:47 She literally looked up with different eyes, 12:53 eyes that were full of hope. 13:00 This is what we have the opportunity to do. 13:04 This is why the Savior came to speak hope to hopelessness, 13:09 to heal the brokenhearted, 13:11 to free people from their captivity. 13:16 The evil one, 13:18 the enemy of my soul fully intended, 13:22 that my voice would never speak, 13:25 that my eyes would never see, 13:27 that my hand would never write. 13:31 But my voice does speak, my eyes do see, 13:35 my hands do right, 13:38 because of those who are willing 13:40 to stand in the gap. 13:43 They stood in the gap for me. 13:46 They stood in the gap for my mother. 13:50 They stood in the gap as Christ stands 13:52 in the gap for us, not as the savior, 13:55 but as an intercessor, as a reconciler. 13:59 They literally pleaded 14:00 as though God were pleading through them 14:03 to be reconciled to life, to choose life 14:08 and they changed the course of history. 14:14 This is what we have the opportunity to do 14:18 as individuals. 14:19 This is what we have the opportunity to do 14:22 as the church. 14:24 We have the opportunity to stand in the gap. 14:30 And if we will do that, 14:32 if we will choose to stand in the gap, 14:36 we will watch as there is so much life 14:41 after choice. |
Revised 2019-04-15