Teens for Life
Back in December we received a text from a volunteer, Jerilyn, who has served with Options for four years.
"Hi ladies. I want to share in the joy of passing down the pro-life message from one generation to the next. Chris and I are praising God for his faithfulness. Sometimes as parents we wonder if anything we say 'sticks'. This assignment [our daughter] wrote only proves that what we have said, what we have shown the children about the work you do, the talks about the amazing stories of how God works through [Options] all matters!"
Attached to the text was a short story written by Julia (pictured left), Jerilyn's daughter, and Becca (pictured right), both Sophomores in High School. The story was a Honors English Creative writing assignment that had to have a hero. They chose their hero character to be a young girl with an unplanned pregnancy.
I don't want to give too much away so I'll have you read it for yourself first!
After I had finished reading the story I cried a little bit! It was so powerful to see two teens so influenced by the messages they have heard growing up that they would choose, out of any topic in the world, to write about a girl faced with an abortion decision and how she triumphed over it and chose Life! That is definitely my kind of hero!
Fun fact about the short story:
The name of the baby was Bao which means treasure. Becca and Julia wanted it to mean every baby has life and quality, value and treasure. They named her that because they had just read a story called The Alchemist. The Alchemist is the hero of his story and he found his treasure, so they wanted the mom to be the hero of her story and the baby to be her treasure!
We got the opportunity to do an interview with the girls and wanted to share the hearts behind the story with you.
Q: What inspired you to write the story?
A: Julia: "I’m really pro-life and my mom had told me the story about [an abortion survivor], who spoke at the last Rise Up event, and we heard Abby Johnson talk [another Options benefit event speaker]. I knew that my Pastor, Jack, also had a story about abortion and I felt like I wanted to write about that because it’s something I’m passionate about."
A: Becca: "When we got together to write the story Julia had already had the idea. We’re both Christian so we share the same views about pro-life so I felt like it would be a good story to write too."
Q: Since you go to a public High School were you nervous at all about writing a story focused on a controversial topic?
A: Becca: "When Julia first told me about the story I wasn’t sure since we go to a public school because we would get a lot of feedback from our class. So I was shaky about writing it but I eventually agreed to it because I believe in standing for your faith."
A: Julia: "I wasn’t nervous because I’m so pro-life that I don’t really care what people think. I just share my points."
Q: Why are you pro-life?
A: Julia: "I’m pro-life because I know that inside the womb theres a baby and ever since I was a kid I’ve always loved children and kids so just the thought of a mom [having an abortion] makes me really sad."
A. Becca: "There's that scripture Psalm 139: 13-16 that says 'For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...' and that basically says that its a life when it's in the womb."
Q: Who/what do you think has been the biggest influence in your beliefs about Life?
A: Jula: "My mom."
A: Becca: "My mom."
Julia: "My entire life I don’t’ ever remember not being pro-life. I remember when I was younger I used to think if I ever became president I would make abortion illegal and my mom has always talked to me about that."
Becca: "I kind of had questions about abortion. Since I’m in public school they teach you in the womb it’s just a fetus so I was confused on if it’s really life. But when my mom and dad shared that verse [Psalm 139:13-16] with me God is saying that it’s life when it’s in the womb. He has a plan for it already so that’s why I’m pro-life!"
We wanted to share this story with you to encourage you! If you are a parent, you have great impact on what your children believe about life in the womb even if you don't always realize it! If you are a teen, it's never too soon to start being an advocate for Life! You have great impact too on your friends, classmates, and even your teachers! Each and every one of you has the potential to be responsible for saving a life just by being a witness about humanity in the womb.
If you haven't already decided to attend our Rise Up event on March 25th, 2017 I hope that this post will encourage you to do so. The featured client story this year is about a teen who found herself pregnant and how a pro-life High School friend scheduled her an appointment with Options. Get your tickets now!