Too Many Tillys

When I was about 12 years old I saw a drama presentation of Frank Peretti's book, Tilly. I sat in the front row in my home church in Kelowna, soaking in every minute of the story, and by the end of the play the tears that I had been holding back burst through and I sobbed with a heavy heart. That story revealed a passion within me for unborn babies and their frightened, unprepared mothers that feel cornered into abortion. Even now I can't get through the story of Tilly without it affecting me. Years later, working at Focus on the Family, I encountered the same topic covered by Dr. Dobson in his monthly newsletter. The letter featured a photo, a very famous picture, of a surgery being done on an unborn baby. The surgeon's finger, outside of the mother, is being grasped by the hand of the baby still in the uterus. The image is burned into my brain; it's just unbelievable. After reading the letter, I spent the evening curled up on my bed, mourning the loss of so many babies who never even had a chance at life. That passion, since my pre-teen years, has never left me and I always knew I wanted to do something to help mothers who feel there is no other option than abortion. I just never knew how to go about getting involved.

This past Christmas, an opportunity came up for me to help organize our church's involvement with our city's Community Services annual Christmas party. It put me in touch with a staff member at their Family Centre and through meetings with her came another opportunity... One involving high-risk pregnancy groups. I'll be organizing a group of women within my church, probably young moms who have time to give during the week, to cook up a meal for these expectant mothers once a month. I'm not sure exactly how this will work or what it will eventually look like, but I'm beyond excited about digging into this whole-heartedly. I believe God has put this passion inside of me, and for a purpose. I just can't wait to put it into action and see where it leads.