Everyday Heroes

You're pregnant. You see that the test is positive, your vision narrows, and all you can see is this huge problem that you have no idea how to fix. Though you can't think straight at all, your feelings are full-force. Afraid, shamed, scared, stuck, abandoned, judged, helpless... Of the very few people who know, you're being pressured in completely different directions. You've never been here before. You are so desperate for a solution. So where do you go?

(This is CareNet. If you ever find yourself in this position, you should go here!)

I wish that every woman in this situation knew about pregnancy resource centers. Places like CareNet, where I have spent the last week and a half interning. I can't even express to you how amazing these places are. These places very reason for existence is to serve women faced with unplanned pregnancies. To provide them information on their options, emotional support, material assistance, and referrals to doctors and financial assistance. But most of all, they give each client the gift of time: time to talk with a caring stranger-soon-turned-friend, and to process all that is happening within them, so that they can make a fully-informed decision that they can live the rest of their lives with.

I mean, how brilliant is that!? Let's think about this. Because of the way we were made, women can get pregnant...and they do. Sometimes pregnancies are planned or expected and sometimes they are not. In our society today, a pregnant woman has three options: carry to term and parent, carry to term and place for adoption, or have an abortion. Women generally know that abortion is an option, and can pretty easily find out how to get one, and if they wanted to place for adoption, they could google away. But do they know that  there are over 2,500 pregnancy resource centers with resources and a place to talk about their pregnancy? Which is a very miraculous and terrifying and mysterious and scary and amazing thing that can only happen, indeed, to a WOMAN. Pregnancy resource centers are incredibly pro-woman. We need these places.

 
Pictured here are some of my most recent heroes. On the left, Nydia, the Director at the Manassas Center; and on the right, Angel and Tasha, the Assistant and Director at the Woodbridge Center.

I am telling you, meeting each of these women has changed my life, or at least my summer, and in a dramatic way. You know when you meet someone awesome and almost immediately are like, whoa, I'm not going to forget this person. And then you spend some time with them, hear their amazing and courageous stories, work alongside them, and are like, "yeah I've gotta be creepy and get a picture with this person so I can blog about them later". That's how I feel about Nydia, Angel, and Tosha.

These women have all been there. When you first meet them, you'd never know what struggles they've been through. They are really friendly ladies, outspoken Christians, and dedicated to their work, usually glued to their computer screens. You might think they have no idea what a woman in a crisis pregnancy is going through. But everyone has a story. And because I like to ask questions, I got to hear each of theirs :)

One grew up in the worst ghetto in Brooklyn, used to constant danger, having to mature quickly. She thought that was all there was--until she went to college in Omaha and realized not every city is a ghetto. One became pregnant when she was seventeen, and chose to parent her child despite difficulty and lack of family support. The final story floored me. She was the daughter of an alcoholic who beat his multiple "women" (one of which was her mom) and was killed in a fight when she was young. Her mom did drugs, and because she was the oldest child, before the age of 10 she was cleaning up after her, and then became a drug-dealer herself. She got pregnant 3 times by the age of 19, and carried each child to term, dropping out of school. She met her current husband at that same age, and after many years of healing and slow change, she committed her life to Christ and has been forever changed since.

These women truly get it, and they truly care. CareNet is not all about "saving the baby"--they are about helping the woman, in whatever way she needs. They are about building her up, helping her to recognize her own strength, giving her the resources she needs, showing her real love.

In my week and a half at CareNet, I felt this love, too. I hope to have the courage, strength, and compassion that these women have. They are truly everyday heroes.