Monday, May 30, 2011

My NYC Homecoming

It’s been almost two years since I’ve been in New York, working as an EMC intern. My return to the Big Apple has been much anticipated for many reasons, the greatest of which stands at about two feet tall, with big brown eyes and a smile that steals your heart in seconds.

Today, I met my first miracle baby.

Like so many others that we are blessed to meet, this little bundle of joy almost didn’t make it here.

I met her mom almost exactly two years ago. She walked into one of our Bronx offices at eighteen years old, a week away from high school graduation, and also two months pregnant. The father of the baby had been shot and killed just a month earlier. While still mourning the loss of her boyfriend, she now had to face a crisis pregnancy—alone. Luckily, EMC was there during her hardest moment.

I had the privilege of being able to walk with her during this time. As we talked and got to know one another, what was originally the reason she wanted an abortion became the reason she wanted to keep her child. This baby was all that she had left of him. What originally seemed to be her biggest problem, turned out to be the joy she needed to overcome all the pain in her heart.

During her sonogram, she heard that little heart beat for the first time, and there was no turning back. She knew she had to carry this pregnancy through for herself, for her baby, and for the memory of her boyfriend. She understood her options, the challenges that lay ahead, and the support available to her. She made a choice for life, and she sure is glad that she did.

As a counselor, there is no feeling more incredible than finally meeting one of your babies. After over a year of updates and pictures, being able to hold that little child in your arms is a joy beyond all expression—a joy that brought me all the way back to NYC. To see the fruits of all the labor and love poured into EMC is such a source of encouragement for the work that is still to be done and the lives that are yet to be saved.

It never ceases to amaze me how God calls our lives together. How a nineteen-year-old girl from Florida comes to cross paths with two lives one thousand miles away could only be through divine intervention. Suddenly this little life becomes such a big part of your own life. You might as well kiss your heart good-bye. When you know, you know—and let me tell you, this is love.

1 comment:

Belén said...

wow!really inspiring!and she's so cute!:)keep doing your amazing work!