A Look Into Options

January 2nd. My regular Wednesday stint as an Options volunteer kicked off 2019 in a superb way! For those of you not familiar with this organization, this description is on their web site home page:

At Options, your health and well-being are our first priority. We specialize in providing services to women faced with unplanned pregnancies and considering abortion. We are here to provide you with pregnancy options by sharing truth with compassion and empathy so you can make a decision with confidence.

A young woman had just left, relieved after learning her pregnancy test result was negative. Along with providing education and addressing concerns of potential moms, the Gospel is shared with each of them during their visits. This first visitor of 2019 made the best and most important decision of her life by asking Jesus to be her Lord and Savior! She came in anxious and uncertain and left with blessed assurance!

Like they do each time a client chooses life, the staff joyfully praised God by singing No Longer Slaves, written by Brian Johnson, Joel Case and Jonathan David Hesler, and I happily joined their celebration. Here's what they sang, changing the I and my or me in the original lyrics to she and her to refer to the client who now had the blessed assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ:

She's no longer a slave to fear

She is a child of God

She's no longer a slave to fear

She is a child of God

From her mother's womb

You have chosen her

Love has called her name

She's been born again, into a family

Your blood flows through her veins

Now, this woman came in thinking she was pregnant but turned out she wasn't. What about the ones whose test is positive? When they choose life for God's unborn creation in their womb, again there is much rejoicing afterwards but with a different song, No One Else, by Cory Asbury and Laura Hackett (with I in the original lyrics changed to they or them for mommy and baby).

No one else can love You like they love You, Lord

'Cause they were made unique in Your heart

They were made to bring You joy

Now they have a purpose

Now they have a destiny

You made them for Your glory

You made them for Your glory

What a joyous time! Please join me in praying that these two songs will be overflowing in 2019 (and beyond). Whenever they sing these songs, I am reminded of Jesus' parable of the lost sheep:

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:3-7 (NASB)

Saving what God has created is sweet beyond measure. But what about the times when the client chooses to terminate the life within her, despite Options best efforts to convince her to keep the baby?

Instead of genuine praise and joy over the decision to choose life, there is genuine sadness and mourning over the pending loss of life. On the days when I've been there and this has happened, the grieving brings to mind the account of the babies slaughtered by Herod after realizing the Magi had tricked him:

Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,

Weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children;

And she refused to be comforted,

Because they were no more.”

Matthew 2:17-18 (NASB)

Regardless of what the client decides, love your neighbor as yourself sees practical use. The women are told they're always welcome whenever they'd like to visit and there are also follow-up phone calls. And, for those who choose life, gifts for the baby. Options isn't a revolving door; the love that Jesus displayed for us is displayed for the women during and after their visits.

I've been blessed during my volunteer time to have a firsthand demonstration of how God works through His people as I see the love, care and concern His servants at Options have for their clients and each other.

- Rickie Miyake, Options Volunteer