“They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.” 1 Timothy 6:18

“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” ~John Wesley

What an encouraging start to the new year! A new baby that was saved from the jaws of death outside Hope Clinic in Granite City , Illinois , the largest late-term abortion mill in the Midwest . We first met this mother of five in September. She was 20 weeks pregnant. The devil was hard after this innocent blood. We pleaded mercy as she walked up to the abortion mill entrance to sign the death warrant. She turned and told us she had to have this abortion. We didn’t back down; we kept praying and the Lord answered. She and her friend walked back out and into our arms looking for real hope and help. 

We prayed with her and her friend and convinced her that taking her baby’s life was not the answer. “God has a plan for you and your child. He is the King’s child, and he is destined for great things. All that baby needs is a chance.” She left the mill and promised to contact us.

Right before Christmas we were able to purchase a crib, coats for her other children, and gather other baby supplies she would be needing. A neighbor brought her to the abortion mill where we loaded her car with everything. We were still working on a few gifts for the other children for Christmas including a “Dora” bike for her 4 year old. 

Carla lives in East St Louis . It is a poor, crime infested, depressed area. Its major industries are drugs and prostitution. It houses a million dollar federal courthouse which appears to look like the Taj Mahal in the middle of Beirut. Illinois has always been referred to as the “Land of Lincoln ”. Now, it’s the Land of Corruption . Thanks Governor!

After we witnessed along with our pregnancy resource van earlier in the morning, we headed over to St. Louis where this little one made his debut on New Year’s Day. At the hospital, Carla told us how Sean came into the world. On New Year’s Eve she went to the emergency room with pains and some bleeding, but since she was not in full term labor, they sent her back home.

The next two hours were unbelievable. She and her three girls were cowering on the floor of her kitchen New Years Eve as bullets were flying over her head. One is stuck in her kitchen wall. She said her labor pains were increasing, but she and her girls were afraid they would get hit if they left the floor. When she couldn’t bear the pain anymore, she returned to the same hospital where hours earlier they released her. This time they kept her as baby Sean, 8lbs. 4 oz., arrived shortly after her admittance.

“This neighborhood is much better than the last,” she told me. Can you imagine having a life like that? This goes on everyday. We are determined to try and make her life a little more enjoyable.

Carla handed this bundle of joy to me and I scooped him up. “Wow, he’s beautiful! We have been waiting for you little man. Your momma has taken such good care of you.” I inspected his broad shoulders and said, “You’ll be a football player, and you will take good care of your momma.” Thank you Lord for blessing us so. “Castles, they may crumble; dreams may not come true, but you are never all alone, ‘cause I will always, always love you.” ~Plumb

Before we departed home, Isabella wanted to see the other babies in the nursery. I hugged Carla and inquired on the extra hands she would be needing with Sean’s care and emphasized, “Rest, rest when you can.” (We mothers know how that goes. : ) I promised to send two fleece blanket sleepers to keep him warm. Carla was so thankful. She shared with us that she is saved and has been in and out of churches, but is determined to raise her children right and keep them from bad things.

We visited the nursery and it was all baby boys. Isabella said, “Mom, there’s no girls.” “That’s because we got them all.” She laughed and we thanked the doctors and nurses and checked in on Carla one more time as we left.

It is a new year and a new baby making for new beginnings. “God has made everything suitable for its time; moreover He has put a sense of past and future into their minds.” Ecclesiastes 3:11.

God’s gift to us each day arrives as surely as dawn follows night. No matter what came before, each day is a new beginning. Sharing daily miracles with loved ones makes an ordinary celebration extraordinary. We are leaving a legacy to younger generations to pick up the banner and follow in our footsteps; to pick up their crosses and crawl over our backs onto the barbwire and continue standing for righteousness and loving the mothers and orphans in Jesus’ name.

Be encouraged~ Angela