So far so good

Somehow this week has been very long and short all at once. I’ve learned a lot, not only from very experienced counselors (such as Sr. Dorothy from sisters of life, who’s been doing this for 30 years), and from the other interns, but also about myself. You’re never truly aware of your abilities until you put them in practice, nor about how far over your limits you can get. I’ve always been very shy and had confidence issues, and yet this week I was (as Chris Slattery would say) “bold, bold, but not too bold”. Of course I made a lot of mistakes, which I learned from, but at times, thanks to all the praying and the action of the Holy Spirit, I was able to really connect with the mothers.

One day, at Dr. Emily’s (in the Bronx) I meet Vanessa, a young mother of a ‘yet to be born’ child. When I first talked to her, I could see the fear and sadness in her eyes, but also the hope when she heard the possibilities EMC was offering her. I could not believe when she said she would come with us to the Brooklyn Office, and actually I truly didn’t until we got there (which is why I’ve never prayed as hard as during those long minutes in the subway). I cannot take the credit for something only God and Vanessa’s bravery are responsible for. If that baby finally gets to live a long and happy life it’s only because of them. But, even though that was a victory, it’s not over yet. Her boyfriend (who she has been with for two years now) is putting way too much pressure on her to have an abortion, and her mother doesn’t know yet. But with God’s help, everything is possible!

Like I said, in a way it’s been a long week since my encounter with Vanessa was at the begging of it, and since then I’ve had training at the Brooklyn office, I’ve assisted a few women that came to it and met a really nice group of people that get together on Saturdays at Women’s all medical (an abortion clinic in Queens), learning from them, not also the best ways of approaching women, but also the importance of reaching the personnel at the clinics. It’s not impossible to make the doctors, nurses and so on, see what an abomination killing those babies is. It just takes some boldness, care and lots of prayers.

I’m looking forward to go back to work next week, especially because we are meeting the sisters of life again on Tuesday for more training, which is great as we can never be too prepared for this very tough but so rewarding job.

Hope you all get to enjoy this rainy and chilly weekend.

Marga