Can I Still Come?

By Courtney Shope RN, BSN

Shortly before her scheduled appointment, she called frantically- “I have no one to keep my kids, can I still come?” I could hear little ones in the background, of whom I would learn were three kids under 5 years old. Typically, we don’t prefer this during an ultrasound appointment, but the Holy Spirit intervened and put the words in my mouth. “Yes, that’s fine, just come.”

In her intake appointment, we learned she was abortion-determined. We usually have an idea of this beforehand, but this time it was a surprise. She was too early to do an ultrasound, and I worried she would make a quick and unsafe decision before she came back to Crossroads when she was far enough along for a scan.

Her sweet, beautiful kids were so very attached to her; evidence of how much they loved their mama. She was on the floor trying desperately to entertain her children, so in my best attempt to keep her attention, I got on the floor with her and stressed the importance of ultrasound before making a decision. She kept eye contact with me the whole time, and promised me she’d come back next week for her ultrasound. I hoped and prayed she would.

The next week she showed up- an answered prayer! This time her kids, boyfriend, and friend were all with her. I performed the first part of her ultrasound with only the staff in the room as we normally do. Then she told me she still hasn’t told her mom about the pregnancy. In a bold but caring manner, I asked her why.

She told me she doesn’t want to be like her mom, who had many kids at a very young age and had them all taken from her, leading a lifestyle that ultimately wounded the hearts of all of her children… including this one on the exam table in front of me. I tenderly told her the truth- that she was not the same as her mother, and that I could see how much her children loved her in the short time they’ve been at the office.

After her ultrasound, she told me she didn’t know what she was going to do. In the eyes of the pregnancy care centers, that’s a huge win. Going from abortion-determined to undecided shows that we intervened drastically. We cannot make the decisions for these women, but we can speak life to them in a way that empowers them. We can crush the lies of the enemy and tell them the truth.

After that, we pray for them. Many times we don’t know the end result, but we know that our holy and sovereign God does. 

She, and all of our clients, know they can still come. If you made a decision you regret, if your life is in shambles, if you’re carrying shame, guilt, or uncertainty… just come to Crossroads. We will walk the journey with you. It’s not too much for us, and its certainly not too much for our big, big God.

And although we don’t always see the end result, in this case- she called back. She said we probably don’t remember her, but asked where she can get prenatal care.

Oh, we remember.