One of my students turned in this project for my Contemporary Issues class. It’s a short story about abortion, and I hope it is a blessing to you as much as it was to me.

I can hear the doctor. He said they could do it now. I do not know what it is, but I am not ready yet to be born. I am still forming. Mom answered and said that she had to do something first. Maybe she was going to come back when I am ready to be born.

May 10 (week 6)

I have made it 6 weeks! My mouth is now starting to form. I wonder what my first words will be. Will it be “Mama?” Or maybe “Dada?” I do not know what it will be. With this mouth of mine I can sing and laugh to my heart’s content. Will my laugh make my parents laugh too? Like God, who loves laughter, will they love my laughter also?

May 17 (week 7)

Mom is stressed. She keeps pacing back and forth. She keeps muttering “I have to tell them.” I do not understand what that means. Maybe she is nervous to tell her parents about me. I wonder if I will be nervous to tell her about my baby when I am older. If I could talk to her, I would say, “Do not worry, for God is with you.” God is with me wherever I will go. Oh, how I cannot wait for what God has in store for me! Who will I be? Will I be tall? Or maybe I will be a great athlete. Whoever I will be I know God is with me wherever I go.

May 24 (week 8)

My fingers and toes are changing. They have webbing now. I am a little scared of what it means, but the thought of God being with me always reassures me. I am growing and growing. I wonder how big I am going to get. Will I be nine pounds? Or perhaps six pounds? I know that when I come my parents will be out there not caring how big I am. All they will care about is that I am healthy.

May 31 (week 9)

Yelling. That is all I can hear right now. Words being thrown at each other at a velocity I cannot comprehend. Mother is now sad. She is crying. I do not know what to do. All I can do is trust God to help her. For I am not big enough to hug her yet. Only God can.

June 7 (week 10)

I can bend my fingers! I am no longer worried about the webbing. I knew God would take care of it. God takes care of everything. Just like I know that God is taking care of mom. She is no longer crying, but I can tell she is still sad. She is talking about the clinic again. I do not understand why she is so worried. I am a healthy baby girl.

June 14 (week 11)

Things are not good. The yelling does not stop. Mom no longer yells back. I do not understand why. She used to fight. Maybe when I come, I can fight for her. I will stand up for her. But I know that will not work. When I come, I will still have a lot of growing to do until I can fight. But I know someone who can fight. God can fight, for God can do anything.

June 21 (week 12)

Pain. Excruciating pain. My limbs ripping from my body. I do not know if I can hold on. I am slipping away. But it’s ok. I see someone through the blackness. He is stretching His arms out to hold me. I now understand what is going on. I am unwanted, and a burden to my parents. They do not want me. “Don’t worry. I am working on them,” said the man. “I am not finished with them yet.” He is holding me. He is reassuring me that there is no more pain. I am with Jesus my Savior. 

There is nothing that can describe the mother’s pain. She went on with life while her child lay dead on the table. She had nowhere to go to escape the pain. She tried everything. She went to drugs, partying, and sex. She couldn’t do enough to get rid of what she felt.

With that lifestyle she was living, she got pregnant again. She lost all control. She tried to take her life, but when she tried, all she could think about was the child that she was carrying. That life is what kept her alive that day. This time she didn’t tell her parents, so she ran away. She was living on the streets going through trash cans to try and find food. She saw her parents once. Their eyes met but they didn’t say anything. They just looked disgusted and left.

She didn’t know what she was going to do when it was time to give birth, but somehow, she knew it would be ok. Someone’s got her. What she didn’t know was that God was keeping His promise to her child. He was taking care of her and making sure she was ok.

Six months after she left home she saw an unexpected face. It was the father of her dead child. After her abortion he left. She had no idea where he went. You see God knows what He is doing. He knew exactly what to do to bring the father to him. Sadly, it was the death of his child that made him come to God. But he came to God none the less.

When the mother had the abortion, the father went to the only place he thought he could go. He went to his pastor. When he got there, he completely broke down. You see he wanted the mother to have an abortion so he would not be embarrassed, for his entire family were believers. He thought his family would put him out on the streets if they found out. He did not understand that the love of God glowed through his entire family. The pastor understood what he was going through. 

He told him that God forgives. All you have to do is trust Him. He put his faith in Christ that day.

Since then, it has been a hard uphill climb. Telling his parents what he did was one of the hardest things he had to do. But they cried with him. They understood what sin does to people.

A year goes by. It has been hard to remember the grace of God, but he understands that he is now forgiven. It took him a year though to get out of the house. He went to church every time their doors were open, but he couldn’t bear to go out. He didn’t know what he would find. The first time he went out he decided to join his family while they were shopping for groceries. He didn’t expect to see her. He thought about her everyday and what he would say to her. 

But seeing her now, he had no idea what he was to do. Walking up to his dad he told him what was going on. His dad decided to go talk to her alone with them watching his every move. They watched them exchange some words. His dad was walking back to where they were standing. With tears in his eyes, he told them what she said. She said she had no home to go to and no food for herself. She said that after her abortion she went to things to try and take the pain away. Living that life, she got pregnant again. She isn’t going to have an abortion, but she doesn’t know where she is going to have her child. When his dad had finished telling them everything, he walked over to the girl and hugged her. He apologized that he was not there for her, and didn’t take care of her after the abortion.

After that day on the side of the road the girl went home with them. She had a homecooked meal and took a warm shower. At first, she did not know what to think. They were so much different than her family. She got warm smiles and countless hugs. They did not make her go to church, for they knew it was her choice, but they were surprised that she begged them to go with them. 

There she learned about the forgiving grace of Jesus Christ. There she put her trust in Jesus.

There she learned that her dead child is now in heaven being embraced by her savior. She found God just as He promised that little girl. That little girl who was scared and afraid when they killed her. That little girl who forgave her parents and the clinic for what they did to her for God taught her to forgive.

The mother gave birth to a happy and healthy little boy. She did not know how she was going to be a mom, but she knew that with God’s help she could do it. Even though they were still young, they decided to get married. Even though he was not the father of the child that was born, he still wanted to do the right thing. He knew that a child, a little boy or a girl, needed two parents. So, on March 29 they tied the knot. They now understood that marriage is a beautiful covenant between them and God, and when it is broken people get hurt. After a couple of years, the father and mother decided to name their little girl. The name had to signify what God has done. That God forgave them of what they did and blessed them. The name that they chose for her was Charis, which means “grace,” or “the unearned favor of God.”