God Makes Appointments

“I do not see coincidence; I see providence.”-Morpheus Matrix Reloaded

Today, two things happened that I hadn’t seen before. Both firsts came from the same girl. I’ll call her “Isabel.”

She was the youngest girl that I had ever seen come into the EMC. She was fourteen. The second fascinating thing about her was the circumstances under which she arrived at EMC. She came in with some very sophisticated referral paper work saying she had already had a sonogram.

Apparently she had been referred by Dr. Emily’s. I was dumbfounded as to why Dr. Emily’s would have referred her to us until I realized that she had come to us by mistake. She had meant to go to Planned Parenthood across the street.

In the quote above, Morpheus is referring to the three ship captains with their respective roles in a mission to end the war. We fight a very different sort of battle. We know how that battle turns out though.

With God, there is no such thing as a random chance. That young girl was meant to come to us. As a result of the mother’s location mix up, a baby lives. Who knows what he or she will grow up to do?

I’m glad that the child’s life potential wasn’t cut short across the street today. Rather the mother and the baby have a unique chance to live, love, and carry out God’s providential plan for their lives.

Decision Time

Sidewalk counseling was extreme today. Most women walked by, maybe about two of every three stopped to listen and take some literature. One woman flipped me off. But the most interesting encounter of all today was with a woman named “Clara.”

Clara was walking into Dr. Emily’s pretty slowly, and as soon as I spoke to her, she stopped. It was obvious that she didn’t want to have the abortion. It didn’t take much convincing. But then a worker (who I think was the abortionist herself) came out to start talking to Clara. She said that she worked there, and that Clara could come in.

Clara had a very clear decision to make. The words of Deuteronomy struck me at that moment: “I have set before you life and death.” Clara chose life. She took the pamphlet, put the number of the 149th street center in her phone, and walked away from the abortion clinic.

New York Manliness

The best lesson I’ve learned so far being here is the importance of fathers. I have a great Dad, so the things I saw today were really far from my own experience. One woman I’ll call Allie has three kids, the oldest of which is headed to college next year; she came in for an abortion. The father of this newest baby refused to work, despite job opportunities she had found for him. Her boyfriend’s lack of virtue (laziness, lack of love, etc) was pushing her towards getting an abortion.

It struck me that though society has assigned the “choice” of abortion to women, men have a big part to play. Some men pressure their pregnant girlfriends to get abortions. Other men are totally passive, like “Diego” yesterday. His girlfriend “Maria” obviously didn’t want the abortion, but when she asked his opinion he just said “whatever you want.” That is not respectful deference, it’s just cowardice. Despite their reputation for being tough, the men that I’ve met in these centers seriously lack fortitude.

It takes real fortitude to be a man, propose, and take responsibility for the child you helped create. As my own Dad once put it, talking about the epidemic of fatherlessness, “It’s not about how many children you can sire, but about how many you can raise.”