By Alisha Woodall
“Mommy! Jessie won’t give me back my Moana doll! Uh-oh, I think Junior just threw up. Mommy, what are you doing in there? Come out!”
“I’ll be right there!” Megan yelled back.
Surely, it had been long enough to look. But Megan didn’t really want to look.
She had finally just been able to go back to school. Her 4-year-old son was in pre-k, and she just got off the waiting list for her 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son to go to Mother’s Day Out. Another baby just wasn’t in the plans.
She flipped over the test but kept her eyes closed, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.
Two bold pink lines stared back at her. “Noooo!” Megan sobbed.
“Mommy!”
“I’m coming,” Megan answered as she checked her mascara in the mirror, threw the test in the trash, flushed the toilet, and opened the door to feel her whole life on hold yet again. She was completely and utterly overwhelmed.
* * *
This was what Megan’s life looked like two weeks prior to coming into FirstLook. Megan called FirstLook through a special number on a Google ad that allows FirstLook to know the caller had been searching online for abortions in the Ellis County area. Megan and her husband, Chaz, were both abortion-minded.
Sitting in the consultation room with Lois, her Client Coordinator, Megan was fidgeting anxiously with her purse in her lap. While they waited for the nurse to return with the confirmation of pregnancy, Lois discussed Megan’s three parenting options: parenting, adoption, and abortion.
“I know I could parent four kids, but it just wasn’t in the plans. It’s just too soon,” were Megan’s comments after discussing parenting.
After Lois shared that adoption was different than it used to be, and that mothers could choose their plan, the adoptive parents, and still get to see the baby, Megan responded, “I’m still not sure I could do that emotionally.”
When Lois went over the abortion procedures and risks, Megan hugged her purse tightly and cried out in shock, “I had no idea that’s how an abortion was done! I knew you had to go to a medical clinic, but I didn’t know they did THAT! Do you think I could schedule another appointment when Chaz can come, so someone can go over these options with him, too?”
“Absolutely, we can schedule that today,” Lois answered.
At that moment, the nurse knocked on the door with Megan’s results. Megan was indeed pregnant with her fourth child.
Megan started crying. “I believe this baby could be a blessing, but this just wasn’t in my plan,” Megan explained. Megan’s pain and distress were evident, but she tried to hold it together even as tears fell through all her words. She was so conflicted.
* * * *
Chaz came with Megan to FirstLook on the following Tuesday night so he wouldn’t have to take off work. He was surprised to learn that FirstLook had a male Client Coordinator, Buddy, on Tuesdays. He hadn’t expected there to be a guy available for him to talk to that evening, much less a bilingual Spiritual Mentor.
FirstLook didn’t know Chaz would be a Spanish speaker, but God knew and sovereignly placed Mary Helen there to help translate between Chaz and Buddy. God had a plan.
While Chaz was learning about all three of his parenting options, Megan was being prepped for the ultrasound. Even though Chaz and Megan had three other children, Chaz had always been unable to attend previous ultrasounds because of work.
Megan was about 8 weeks pregnant, and the couple could clearly see a head, body, and four little limb buds squirming around. Chaz never took his eyes off the screen. Megan stared at her husband staring at their baby. The nurse pointed to a flicker at the center of the baby’s body and told them it was the heartbeat. Chaz just shook his head in disbelief.
Throughout the evening, Mary Helen and Chaz formed a connection since they were both Spanish speakers. Chaz felt very comfortable talking with her. So, when she asked if she could pray with him before they went home, he said yes.
Megan was very surprised Chaz was willing to pray with Mary Helen. Chaz had never been interested in going to church with her and the kids when she brought it up, always saying he was too tired or had things he needed to work on around the house.
Again, God wasn’t surprised, He had a plan.
Before praying, Mary Helen asked Chaz if she could share something that changed her life. Chaz said yes, and she told him the Good News of the Son of God choosing to come to the world as a baby, just like his tiny baby he saw on the ultrasound and then choosing to die for our sins and be raised three days later securing eternal life for all who would believe. Chaz wanted to believe. He wanted to know Jesus. This baby may not have been in Megan and Chaz’s plans, but God was already using the baby He created in miraculous ways to change this family. That evening, Chaz chose life for his baby, and he chose life for himself in Jesus. God had a plan.
Megan and Chaz’s baby was one of 606 babies saved over the past four years at FirstLook because parents who were abortion-minded chose life for their babies after viewing the ultrasound. Chaz was one of 83 clients who chose to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior during the past four years after hearing the Gospel at FirstLook.
In Megan and Chaz’s case, two choices for life were made, two people were saved.
Note: This is a true FirstLook story. Only the names have been changed to protect client identities.
FirstLook is leading Ellis County to embrace life by promoting best sexual health practices and providing family support in the name of Jesus Christ. We focus on real lives, real stories, and real impacts being made thanks to the positive, life-affirming alternatives to abortion we offer to women and families facing an unplanned pregnancy. Learn how you can be part of our Real Lives campaign at https://friendsoffirstlook.org/reallives/.